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observatory

(Encyclopedia)observatory, scientific facility especially equipped to detect and record naturally occurring scientific phenomena. Although geological and meteorological observatories exist, the term is generally ap...

relativity

(Encyclopedia)relativity, physical theory, introduced by Albert Einstein, that discards the concept of absolute motion and instead treats only relative motion between two systems or frames of reference. One consequ...

Strategic Defense Initiative

(Encyclopedia)Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), former U.S. government program responsible for research and development of a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles (se...

empyema

(Encyclopedia)empyema ĕmpē-ēˈmə [key], persistent purulent discharge into a cavity such as the pleural space or the gallbladder. Empyema results as a complication of bacterial infections such as pneumonia and ...

Bourget, Le

(Encyclopedia)Bourget, Le, town, Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France. A suburb of Paris, it is the site of Le Bourget airport, once Paris's main airport but n...

Steer, Philip Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Steer, Philip Wilson, 1860–1942, English landscape painter. Steer worked largely in the tradition of French impressionist painting and was considered the greatest English landscape painter of his da...

Coronel

(Encyclopedia)Coronel kōrōnĕlˈ [key], S central Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Part of the Great C...

Itasca, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Itasca, Lake ītăsˈkə [key], shallow lake, 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in a pine-wooded swampy region, NW Minn. Henry R. Schoolcraft identified the lake (1832) as the source of the Mississippi; stepping s...

Highland

(Encyclopedia)Highland. 1 City (2020 pop. 55,629), San Bernardino co., SE Calif., in a citrus-grove area at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts. It has ...

Gretna

(Encyclopedia)Gretna. <1> City (2020 pop. 17,515), seat of Jefferson parish, SE La., on the Mississippi River. A suburb of New Orleans, it produces marble, ...