(Encyclopedia) PolarisPolarispōlârˈĭs [key] or North Star, star nearest the north celestial pole (see equatorial coordinate system). It is in the constellation Ursa Minor (see Ursa Major and Ursa…
(Encyclopedia) electromotive series, list of metals whose order indicates the relative tendency to be oxidized, or to give up electrons (see oxidation and reduction); the list also includes the gas…
(Encyclopedia) executive, one who carries out the will or plan of another person or of a group. In government, the term refers not only to the chief administrative officer but to all others who…
(Encyclopedia) wave, in physics, the transfer of energy by the regular vibration, or oscillatory motion, either of some material medium or by the variation in magnitude of the field vectors of an…
(Encyclopedia) Boyle, Kay, 1903–93, American writer, b. St. Paul, Minn. A European expatriate in the interwar years, she returned to Europe as a correspondent for the New Yorker (1946–53) and…
(Encyclopedia) Hereward the WakeHereward the Wakehĕrˈĭwərd [key], fl. 1070, Anglo-Saxon rebel against William I. A thane, he apparently held land in Lincolnshire. In 1070 he sacked Peterborough with…
(Encyclopedia) sleet, precipitation of small, partially melted grains of ice. As raindrops fall from clouds, they pass through layers of air at different temperatures. If they pass through a layer…
(Encyclopedia) Benet, JuanBenet, Juanbənetˈ [key], 1927–93, Spanish novelist and essayist. He earned a degree in civil engineering and worked as a highway engineer before publishing (1961) his first…
