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Conant, James Bryant

(Encyclopedia)Conant, James Bryant kōˈnənt [key], 1893–1978, American educator, chemist, and diplomat, b. Dorchester, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1913; Ph.D., 1916). Except for a brief period in the army (1917...

Whitney, Asa

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, Asa, 1797–1872, American merchant and transcontinental railroad projector, b. North Groton, Conn. He entered the mercantile business in New York City, acted as a foreign buyer for several y...

Huron, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Huron, Lake hyo͝orˈänˌ [key], 23,010 sq mi (59,596 sq km), 206 mi (332 km) long and 183 mi (295 km) at its greatest width, between Ont., Canada, and Mich.; second largest of the Great Lakes. It ha...

monitorial system

(Encyclopedia)monitorial system, method of elementary education devised by British educators Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell during the 19th cent. to furnish schooling to the underprivileged even under conditions ...

inflation

(Encyclopedia)inflation, in economics, persistent and relatively large increase in the general price level of goods and services. Its opposite is deflation, a process of generally declining prices. The U.S. Bureau ...

capillarity

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Capillarity: Water wets the walls of a capillary tube and thus rises, causing the upper surface, or meniscus, of the liquid to be concave; mercury does not wet the walls of a capillary tube and...

Yousafzai, Malala

(Encyclopedia)Yousafzai, Malala, 1997–, Pakistani advocate for girls' education. When Islamic militants took control of her native Swat in 2009, she wrote—with the encouragement of her father, an educator—an ...

Barnard, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Barnard, Henry, 1811–1900, American educator, b. Hartford, Conn., grad. Yale, 1830. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835. As a member (1837–39) of the Connecticut legislature, he ori...

finance

(Encyclopedia)finance, theory and practice of conducting large public and private dealings in money. Important institutions of private finance include those that deal with insurance, banking, stocks (see stock), bo...

sperm

(Encyclopedia)sperm or spermatozoon spûrˌmətəzōˈən, –zōˈŏn [key], in biology, the male gamete (sex cell), corresponding to the female ovum in organisms that reproduce sexually. In higher animals the spe...
 

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