Search

Search results

Displaying 111 - 120

Sturgeon, Nicola Ferguson

(Encyclopedia) Sturgeon, Nicola Ferguson, 1970–, Scottish political leader, first minister of Scotland (2014–). She studied law at the Univ. of Glasgow, then worked as a solicitor until 1999, when…

thunder

(Encyclopedia) thunder, sound produced along a path of a lightning flash, caused by the rapid heating and expansion of the adjacent air; lightning can heat air to temperatures as much as five times…

Vaihinger, Hans

(Encyclopedia) Vaihinger, HansVaihinger, Hanshäns fīˈhĭng-ər [key], 1852–1933, German philosopher. Educated at Tübingen, Leipzig, and Berlin, he served at Strasbourg first as tutor and then as…

zinc oxide

(Encyclopedia) zinc oxide, chemical compound, ZnO, that is nearly insoluble in water but soluble in acids or alkalies. It occurs as white hexagonal crystals or a white powder commonly known as zinc…

zinnia

(Encyclopedia) zinnia, any species of the genus Zinnia of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native chiefly to Mexico, though some range as far north as Colorado and as far south as Guatemala. The…

Sloane, William Milligan

(Encyclopedia) Sloane, William Milligan, 1850–1926, American historian. After serving as secretary to George Bancroft and studying under Droysen in Germany, he was professor of history at Princeton (…

Barrès, Maurice

(Encyclopedia) Barrès, MauriceBarrès, Mauricemôrēsˈ bärĕsˈ [key], 1862–1923, French novelist and nationalist politician. As an advocate of the supremacy of the individual self, he wrote the trilogy…

Southwell, Robert

(Encyclopedia) Southwell, Robert, 1561?–1595, English Jesuit poet, venerated by Roman Catholics as a martyr, b. Norfolk. He was brought up a Catholic and educated abroad, mainly at Douai. In 1580 he…

Souter, David Hackett

(Encyclopedia) Souter, David Hackett, 1939–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1990–2009), b. Melrose, Mass. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he served as New Hampshire's attorney general…

sales tax

(Encyclopedia) sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of…