…of or denoting a scale of temperature on which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212° under standard conditions…
…the SI unit of electrical capacitance, equal to the capacitance of a capacitor in which one coulomb of charge causes a potential difference of one volt…
…the chemical element of atomic number 9, a poisonous pale yellow gas of the halogen series. It is the most reactive of all the elements, causing severe burns on contact with skin…
…the rate at which a vibration occurs that constitutes a wave, either in a material (as in sound waves), or in an electromagnetic field (as in radio waves and light), usually measured per second…
…the low-growing plant that produces the strawberry, having white flowers, lobed leaves, and runners, and found throughout north temperate regions…
…used as a euphemism for the word “fuck”, with reference to the latter’s taboo status and potential to shock or offend…
…either of a pair of sound holes resembling an ∫ and a reversed ∫ in shape, cut in the front of musical instruments of the violin family and some other stringed instruments such as semi-acoustic electric guitars and mandolins…
…a taxonomic category, especially of fungi, below that of species and defined by physiological characteristics, especially as they affect pathogenicity. The abbreviation is used in binomial names, between the species name and a special qualifier…
…the ratio of the focal length of a camera lens to the diameter of the aperture being used for a particular shot (e.g., f8, indicating that the focal length is eight times the diameter)…
…(1895–1978), English literary critic; full name Frank Raymond Leavis. Founder and editor of the quarterly Scrutiny (1932–53), he emphasized the value of critical study of English literature to preserving cultural continuity. Notable works: The Great Tradition (1948)…
…(1888–1931), German film director; born Frederick Wilhelm Plumpe. His revolutionary use of cinematic techniques to record and interpret human emotion paralleled the expressionist movement in art and drama. Notable films: Nosferatu (1922), Der letzte Mann (1924), and Sunrise (1927), which won three Oscars…
…(1904–90), US behaviorist psychologist; full name Burrhus Frederic Skinner. He promoted the view that the proper aim of psychology should be to predict behavior and hence be able to control it. He applied the results of his studies to the development of programmed learning and to educational practice…
…(1936-), South African statesman; state president 1989–94; full name Frederik Willem de Klerk. As president, he freed Nelson Mandela in 1990, lifted the ban on membership in the African National Congress (ANC), and opened the negotiations that led to the first democratic elections in 1994. Nobel Peace Prize (1993), shared with Mandela…
…(1911–77), German economist and conservationist; full name Ernst Friedrich Schumacher. His Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (1973) argues that mass production needs to be replaced by smaller, more energy-efficient enterprises…
…(1941-), US journalist, columnist, and television commentator. His conservative syndicated newspaper column first appeared in The Washington Post. He also wrote a column for Newsweek magazine from 1976, and appeared on television’s This Week…
…(1902–79), US movie producer; full name Darryl Francis Zanuck. He was the controlling executive of Twentieth Century Fox and its president from 1965 until his retirement in 1971…
…(1925–2008), US journalist and writer; full name William Frank Buckley, Jr. Founder of the conservative magazine National Review (1955), he hosted the television discussion program Firing Line 1966–99…
…(1896–1940), US novelist; full name Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His novels, in particular The Great Gatsby (1925), provide a vivid portrait of the US during the jazz era of the 1920s. Fitzgerald later became part of an affluent and fashionable set living on the French Riviera; their lifestyle is reflected in Tender is the Night (1934), a semiautobiographical novel…
…an aquatic bird of the rail family, with blackish plumage, lobed feet, and a bill that extends back onto the forehead as a horny shield…
…a tropical American bird of the ovenbird family, often building its ovenlike mud nest on the top of a fence post…
…a tree with silver-gray bark and compound leaves. The ash is widely distributed throughout north temperate regions where it can form forests…
…a tree with silver-gray bark and compound leaves. The ash is widely distributed throughout north temperate regions where it can form forests…
…a large tree with smooth gray bark, glossy leaves, and hard, pale, fine-grained timber. Its fruit, the beechnut, is an important food for numerous wild birds and mammals…
…a Eurasian and North African finch, typically with a bluish top to the head and dark wings and tail…
…a gull-sized gray and white seabird of the petrel family, with a stocky body and tubular nostrils…
…a migratory Old World falcon with long narrow wings, catching dragonflies and birds on the wing…
…an Old World squirrel that frequents palm trees, especially a tree squirrel with a striped back and a shrill, birdlike call…
…a hole-nesting auk (seabird) of northern and Arctic waters, with a large head and a massive, brightly colored triangular bill…
…a small surface-swimming fish related to the killifishes, found in fresh, brackish, and salt water throughout North America…
…(1770–1831), German philosopher. In Science of Logic (1812–16) he described the three-stage process of dialectical reasoning, on which Marx based his theory of dialectical materialism…
…John Fitzgerald (1917–63), 35th president of the US 1961–63; known as JFK. The youngest person to be elected to the presidency, he was a popular advocate of civil rights. In foreign affairs he recovered from the Bay of Pigs fiasco to demand successfully the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 18-29, 1962. On November 22, 1963, he was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with his murder…
…(1685–1750), German composer. An exceptional and prolific baroque composer, his compositions range from violin concertos, suites, and the six Brandenburg Concertos (1720–21) to clavier works and sacred cantatas. Large-scale choral works include The Passion according to St. John (1723), The Passion according to St. Matthew (1729), and the Mass in B minor (1733–38). Three of his sons were also well-known composers: J. C. Bach (1735–82), known as the London Bach, full name Johann Christian Bach; J. C. F. Bach (1732–95), known as the Bückeburg Bach, full name Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach; and W. F. Bach (1710–84), known as the Halle Bach, full name Wilhelm Friedemann Bach…
…a small falcon that hovers with rapidly beating wings while searching for prey on the ground…
