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raft

(Encyclopedia)raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

Permian Basin

(Encyclopedia)Permian Basin or West Texas Basin, extensive sedimentary basin, West Texas and SE New Mexico. Covering an area of more than 75,000 sq mi (194,000 sq km), its main components are the Midland Basin on t...

epistemology

(Encyclopedia)epistemology ĭpĭsˌtəmŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,=knowledge or science], the branch of philosophy that is directed toward theories of the sources, nature, and limits of knowledge. Since the 17th cent. e...

Tsipras, Alexis

(Encyclopedia)Tsipras, Alexis, 1974–, Greek political leader. A civil engineer by training, he was the head (2008–13) of Snyaspismos, a leftist party that was part of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza);...

booby

(Encyclopedia)booby, common name for some members of the family Sulidae, large, streamlined sea birds. Tropical and subtropical members of the family are called boobies; those of northern waters are called gannets....

Einhorn, David

(Encyclopedia)Einhorn, David īnˈhôrn [key], 1809–79, Jewish theological writer and leader of the Reform movement in Judaism in the United States. Born in Bavaria, he studied philosophy at Munich and was influe...

Komorowski, Bronisław

(Encyclopedia)Komorowski, Bronisław, 1952–, Polish political leader, grad. Warsaw Univ. (1977). In his youth he joined the prodemocracy movement and was arrested several times; he was interned briefly in the ear...

Dodecanese

(Encyclopedia)Dodecanese dōdĕkˌənēsˈ, –nēz, dōˌdĕk– [key], Gr. Dhodhekánisos, island...

microwave oven

(Encyclopedia)microwave oven, device that uses microwaves to rapidly cook food. The microwaves cause water molecules in the food to vibrate, producing heat, which is distributed through the food by induction. A spe...

myoglobin

(Encyclopedia)myoglobin mīˌəglōˈbĭn [key], protein molecule isolated from the cells of vertebrate skeletal muscle that is both a structural and functional relative of hemoglobin, the oxygen-transport protein ...