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Spokane, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Spokane spōkănˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 177,196), seat of Spokane co., E Wash., at the spectacular falls of the Spokane River; inc. 1881. It is a port of entry and the commercial, transportation, an...

polyethylene

(Encyclopedia)polyethylene pŏlˌēĕthˈəlēn [key], widely used plastic. It is a polymer of ethylene, CH2=CH2, having the formula (–CH2–CH2–)n, and is produced at high pressures and temperatures in the pre...

humus

(Encyclopedia)humus hyo͞oˈməs [key], organic matter that has decayed to a relatively stable, amorphous state. It is an important biological constituent of fertile soil. Humus is formed by the decomposing action ...

Morris, Lewis, 1671–1746, American colonial official

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Lewis, 1671–1746, American colonial official, first lord of the manor of Morrisania in New York. The son of Richard Morris (d. 1672; see Morris, family), he was born in that part of Westches...

Cornell, Eric Allin

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Eric Allin, 1961–, American physicist, b. Palo Alto, Calif., Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990. Since 1990, he has been a researcher at the Joint Institute for Laboratory As...

Wieman, Carl Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Wieman, Carl Edwin, 1951–, American physicist, b. Corvallis, Oreg., Ph.D. Stanford, 1977. He was a professor at the Univ. of Colorado from 1984 to 2006. In 2007, he joined the Univ. of British Colum...

turpentine

(Encyclopedia)turpentine, yellow to brown semifluid oleoresin exuded from the sapwood of pines, firs, and other conifers. It is made up of two principal components, an essential oil and a type of resin that is call...

Chabon, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Chabon, Michael, 1963–, American writer, b. Washington, D.C., B.A. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1984, M.A. Univ. of California, Irvine, 1987. Chabon's novels combine intriguing plots, usually involving Jewi...

cuneiform

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Examples of the development of cuneiform cuneiform kyo͞onēˈĭfôrm [key] [Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium b.c. in the lower ...

naphtha

(Encyclopedia)naphtha năpˈthə, năfˈ– [key], term usually restricted to a class of colorless, volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures. Obtained as one of the more volatile fractions in the fractional ...
 

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