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green flash

(Encyclopedia) green flash or emerald flash, a refractive phenomenon of the atmosphere where the top edge of the setting (or, less frequently, rising) sun will momentarily turn emerald green. The…

apocalypse

(Encyclopedia) apocalypseapocalypseəpŏkˈəlĭps [key] [Gr.,=uncovering], genre represented in early Jewish and in Christian literature in which the secrets of the heavenly world or of the world to come…

indulgence

(Encyclopedia) indulgence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants…

Luria, Isaac ben Solomon

(Encyclopedia) Luria or Loria, Isaac ben SolomonLuria or Loria, Isaac ben Solomonl&oobreve;rˈēə, lôrˈ– [key], 1534–72, Jewish kabbalist, surnamed Ashkenazi, called Ari [lion] by his followers, b…

neostigmine

(Encyclopedia) neostigmineneostigminenēˌōstĭgˈmēn, –mĭn [key], drug used to mimic the effects of stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Along with several other drugs that have a similar…

autogiro

(Encyclopedia) autogiroautogiroôtōjīˈrō [key] or gyroplanegyroplanejīˈrəplān [key], type of aircraft supported in the air by a horizontally mounted airfoil similar to that of a helicopter but…

Nuer

(Encyclopedia) NuerNuern&oomacr;ˈər, n&oobreve;r [key], a Nilotic people living around Lake No in South Sudan. Their economy and social life generally revolve around cattle, which are grazed…

moraine

(Encyclopedia) morainemorainemərānˈ [key], a formation composed of unsorted and unbedded rock and soil debris called till, which was deposited by a glacier. The till that falls on the sides of a…

geode

(Encyclopedia) geodegeodejēˈōd [key], hollow, globular rock nodule ranging in diameter from 1 to 12 in. (2.54–30.5 cm) or more. Most geodes are partly filled with mineral matter; they have a thin…

Fowles, John

(Encyclopedia) Fowles, John, 1926–2005, English writer, b. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, grad. Oxford, 1950. A complex, cerebral writer and a superb storyteller, Fowles was interested in manipulating the…