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Ruffin, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Ruffin, Edmund rŭfˈĭn [key], 1794–1865, American agriculturist, one of the Southern fire-eaters, b. Prince George co., Va. His interest in improving impoverished land led him to become a pioneer ...

petrology

(Encyclopedia)petrology, branch of geology specifically concerned with the origin, composition, structure, and properties of rocks, primarily igneous and metamorphic, and secondarily sedimentary. It includes petrog...

Reye's syndrome

(Encyclopedia)Reye's syndrome rīz [key], rare but life-threatening disease characterized by acute encephalopathy and fatty infiltration of internal organs, especially the liver. It occurs almost entirely in childr...

pampas

(Encyclopedia)pampas pămˈpəz, Span. pämˈpäs [key], wide, flat, grassy plains of temperate S South America, c.300,000 sq mi (777,000 sq km), particularly in Argentina and extending into Uruguay. Although the r...

boron

(Encyclopedia)boron bōrˈŏn [key] [New Gr. from borax], chemical element; symbol B; at. no. 5; interval in which at. wt. ranges 10.806–10.821; m.p. about 2,300℃; sublimation point about 2,550℃; sp. gr. 2.3 ...

rain

(Encyclopedia)rain, precipitation in liquid form. It consists of drops of water falling from clouds; if the drops are very small, they are collectively termed drizzle. Rain plays a key role in the hydrologic, or wa...

Conant, James Bryant

(Encyclopedia)Conant, James Bryant kōˈnənt [key], 1893–1978, American educator, chemist, and diplomat, b. Dorchester, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1913; Ph.D., 1916). Except for a brief period in the army (1917...

Cornforth, Sir John Warcup

(Encyclopedia)Cornforth, Sir John Warcup wôrˈkəp côrnˈfərth [key], 1917–2013, Australian chemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1941. Although Cornforth suffered a hearing loss from childhood and was deaf by the time he gr...

Fenn, John Bennett

(Encyclopedia)Fenn, John Bennett, 1917–2010, American chemist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Yale, 1940. Fenn spent the early years of his career working in industry (1940–52) and then for the U.S. Navy (1952–67) b...

Feringa, Bernard Lucas

(Encyclopedia)Feringa, Bernard Lucas, 1951–, Dutch organic chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Groningen, Netherlands, 1978. He has been on the faculty at the Univ. of Groningen since 1984. Feringa was jointly awarded the 20...