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relativity

(Encyclopedia)relativity, physical theory, introduced by Albert Einstein, that discards the concept of absolute motion and instead treats only relative motion between two systems or frames of reference. One consequ...

snake worship

(Encyclopedia)snake worship. The snake has been variously adored as a regenerative power, as a god of evil, as a god of good, as Christ (by the Gnostics), as a phallic deity, as a solar deity, and as a god of death...

spiritism

(Encyclopedia)spiritism or spiritualism, belief that the human personality continues to exist after death and can communicate with the living through the agency of a medium or psychic. The advocates of spiritism ar...

Albuquerque

(Encyclopedia)Albuquerque ălˈbəkûrˌkē [key], city (2020 pop. 564,559), seat of Bernalillo co., W central N.Mex., on the upper Rio Grande; inc. 1890. The largest city in the state,...

Atacama Desert

(Encyclopedia)Atacama Desert ätäkäˈmä [key], arid region, c.600 mi (970 km) long, N Chile, extending south from the border of Peru. The desert itself, c.2,000 ft (610 m) above sea level, is a series of dry sal...

Schekman, Randy Wayne

(Encyclopedia)Schekman, Randy Wayne, 1948–, American cell biologist, b. St. Paul, Minn. Ph.D. Stanford, 1974. He is a professor (since 1976) at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, and an investigator of the Howard...

Engler, Adolf

(Encyclopedia)Engler, Adolf äˈdôlf ĕngˈlər [key], 1844–1930, German botanist. He emphasized the importance of geological history in the study of plant geography, and worked out an influential system of plan...

Raiffeisen, Friedrich Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Raiffeisen, Friedrich Wilhelm frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm rīfˈīˌzən [key], 1818–88, German leader in the cooperative movement. Between 1845 and 1865 he was mayor of several German towns. After the...

Pinyin

(Encyclopedia)Pinyin pĭnˈyĭnˈ [key] [Chin. Hanyu pinyin = Chinese phonetic alphabet], system of romanization of Chinese written characters, approved in 1958 by the government of the People's Republic of Chi...

Lycurgus, founder of the Spartan constitution

(Encyclopedia)Lycurgus līkûrˈgəs [key], traditional name of the founder of the Spartan constitution. The earliest mention of him is in Herodotus. Nothing is known of his life—when he lived or if he was a real...