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hysteria

(Encyclopedia)hysteria hĭstĕrˈēə [key], in psychology, a disorder commonly known today as conversion disorder, in which a psychological conflict is converted into a bodily disturbance. It is distinguished from...

Draper, John William

(Encyclopedia)Draper, John William, 1811–82, American scientist, philosopher, and historian, b. near Liverpool, England, M.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1836. In 1839 he became professor of chemistry at the Univ. of ...

Dalí, Salvador

(Encyclopedia)Dalí, Salvador sälväthōrˈ dälēˈ, däˈlē [key], 1904–89, Spanish painter. At first influenced by futurism, in 1924 Dalí came under the influence of the Italian painter de Chirico and by 19...

aberration

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Spherical aberration: Light rays near the edge of the lens are bent more and brought to focus nearer to the lens. B. Chromatic aberration: Shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies) are bent m...

Plutarch

(Encyclopedia)Plutarch plo͞oˈtärk [key], a.d. 46?–c.a.d. 120, Greek essayist and biographer, b. Chaeronea, Boeotia. He traveled in Egypt and Italy, visited Rome (where he lectured on philosophy) and Athens, an...

phenothiazine

(Encyclopedia)phenothiazine fēˌnəthīˈəzĭn [key], any one of a class of drugs used to control mental disorders. Phenothiazines, along with other antipsychotic, or neuroleptic, drugs are used for such disorder...

Rousseau, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Rousseau, Henri äNrēˈ ro͞osōˈ [key], 1844–1910, French primitive painter, b. Laval. He was entirely self-taught, and his work remained consistently naive and imaginative. Rousseau was called L...

ultrasonics

(Encyclopedia)ultrasonics, study and application of the energy of sound waves vibrating at frequencies greater than 20,000 cycles per second, i.e., beyond the range of human hearing. The application of sound energy...

reservoir

(Encyclopedia)reservoir rĕzˈəvôr, –vwär [key], storage tank or wholly or partly artificial lake for storing water. Building an embankment or dam to preserve a supply of water for irrigation is an ancient pra...

Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich

(Encyclopedia)Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich răspyo͞oˈtĭn, Rus. grĭgôˈrē yĭfēˈməvĭch rəspo͞oˈtyĭn [key], 1869–1916, Russian holy man and courtier, a notorious figure at the court of Czar Nicholas I...