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melon

(Encyclopedia)melon, fruit of Cucumis melo, a plant of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Asia and now cultivated extensively in warm regions. There are many varieties, differing in taste, color, an...

Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d'

(Encyclopedia)Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d' älfrĕdˈ gēyōmˈ gäbrēĕlˈ, dôrsāˈ [key], 1801–52, French dandy. The son of a Bonapartist general, he went to England in 1821, where he met Margue...

manna

(Encyclopedia)manna mănˈə [key], in the Bible, edible substance provided by God for the people of Israel in the wilderness. In the Book of Exodus it is compared to coriander seed and described as fine, white, an...

carambola

(Encyclopedia)carambola kărˌəmbōˈlə [key], orange fleshy fruit of Averrhoa carambola, a small shrub in the wood sorrel family (Oxalidaceae). The fruits have five very prominent ridges, and in transverse secti...

Kobilka, Brian Kent

(Encyclopedia)Kobilka, Brian Kent, 1955–, American physician, b. Little Falls, Minn., M.D. Yale, 1981. He was a researcher at Duke Univ. from 1981 to 1989, where he worked with Robert Lefkowitz; in 1989 he joined...

Arcimboldo, Giuseppe

(Encyclopedia)Arcimboldo, Giuseppe jo͞ozĕpˈpā ärchēmbôlˈdō [key], 1527–93, Italian painter. The son of an artist, he began as a traditional portrait painter. Later, as court painter to Hapsburg kings Max...

alkali

(Encyclopedia)alkali ălˈkəlī [key] [Arab., al-gili=ashes of saltwort], hydroxide of an alkali metal. Alkalies are readily soluble in water and form strongly basic solutions with a characteristic acrid taste. Th...

Al-Biruni, Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad

(Encyclopedia)Al-Biruni or Al Beruni, Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad äbo͞oˈ rīhänˈ məhămˈĭd ĭbˈən äˈməd ăl-bēro͞oˈnē, ăl bĕro͞oˈnē [key], b. 973, d. after 1050, Central Asian scientist. His...

Coypel

(Encyclopedia)Coypel kwäpĕlˈ [key], family of French painters. Noël Coypel, 1628–1707, director of the Académie de France à Rome and later of the Académie royale de péinture et de sculpture in Paris, was ...

phlogiston theory

(Encyclopedia)phlogiston theory flōjĭsˈtŏn [key], hypothesis regarding combustion. The theory, advanced by J. J. Becher late in the 17th cent. and extended and popularized by G. E. Stahl, postulates that in all...