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genetics

(Encyclopedia)genetics, scientific study of the mechanism of heredity. While Gregor Mendel first presented his findings on the statistical laws governing the transmission of certain traits from generation to genera...

Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de

(Encyclopedia)Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de fräNswäˈ märēˈ ärwāˈ də vôltĕrˈ [key], 1694–1778, French philosopher and author, whose original name was Arouet. One of the towering geniuses in lite...

Shakespeare, William

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet, b. Stratford-upon-Avon. He is widely considered the greatest playwright who ever lived. For about 150 years after his death ...

Middle English literature

(Encyclopedia)Middle English literature, English literature of the medieval period, c.1100 to c.1500. See also English literature and Anglo-Saxon literature. The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English let...

Gothic architecture and art

(Encyclopedia)Gothic architecture and art, structures (largely cathedrals and churches) and works of art first created in France in the 12th cent. that spread throughout Western Europe through the 15th cent., and i...

pre-Columbian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)pre-Columbian art and architecture, works of art and structures created in Central and South America before the arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. For many years the regions that are now ...

German literature

(Encyclopedia)German literature, works in the German language by German, Austrian, Austro-Hungarian, and Swiss authors, as well as by writers of German in other countries. The postwar decades saw a gradual litera...

Lincoln, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Lincoln, Abraham lĭngˈkən [key], 1809–65, 16th President of the United States (1861–65). As time passed Lincoln became more and more the object of adulation; a full-blown “Lincoln legend”...

slavery

(Encyclopedia)slavery, historicially, an institution based on a relationship of dominance and submission, whereby one person owns another and can exact from that person labor or other services. Slavery has been fou...

opera

(Encyclopedia)opera, drama set to music. In the early part of the 20th cent. the foremost operatic composer was Richard Strauss. Although influenced by Wagner, he composed operas with even richer and more stunnin...