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European Southern Observatory

(Encyclopedia)European Southern Observatory (ESO), an intergovernmental organization for astronomical research with headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany. The ESO began in 1962 as a consortium among Belgiu...

Watson, James Dewey

(Encyclopedia)Watson, James Dewey, 1928–, American biologist and educator, b. Chicago, Ill., grad. Univ. of Chicago, 1947, Ph.D. Univ. of Indiana, 1950. With F. H. C. Crick he began (1951) research on the molecul...

olive oil

(Encyclopedia)olive oil, pale yellow to greenish oil obtained from the pulp of olives by separating the liquids from solids. Olive oil was used in the ancient world for lighting, in the preparation of food, and as ...

pancreas

(Encyclopedia)pancreas pănˈkrēəs [key], glandular organ that secretes digestive enzymes and hormones. In humans, the pancreas is a yellowish organ about 7 in. (17.8 cm) long and 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) wide. It lies b...

Jacob, François

(Encyclopedia)Jacob, François fräNswäˈ zhäkôbˈ [key], 1920–2013, French biologist and geneticist, educated at the Sorbonne. His medical studies were interrupted by World War II. He joined the Free French F...

Ptolemaic system

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemaic system tŏlˌəmāˈĭk [key], historically the most influential of the geocentric cosmological theories, i.e., theories that placed the earth motionless at the center of the universe with a...

In

(Encyclopedia)In, symbol for the element indium. ...

nitric oxide

(Encyclopedia)nitric oxide or nitrogen monoxide, a colorless gas formed by the combustion of nitrogen and oxygen as given by the reaction: energy + N2 + O2 → 2NO; m.p. −163.6℃; b.p. −151.8℃. Nitric oxide ...

Mitterrand, François Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Mitterrand, François Maurice fräNswäˈ mōrēsˈ mētəräNˈ [key], 1916–96, French political leader, president of France, 1981–95. Initially a supporter of Pétain's Vichy government during W...
 

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