SadStamp

Bradley, Edward R.

2005-04-05T23:36:00.000-07:00

As a student at Cheyney State College (now Cheyney University of Pennsylvania), Bradley worked his way into broadcasting by volunteering at Philadelphia radio station WDAS-FM. After graduating with a degree in education (B.S., 1964), Bradley became an elementary schoolteacher but continued to work

Wied, Gustav

2005-04-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

Wied was the son of a well-to-do farmer. He spent most of his life in provincial surroundings, which provide the usual background for his works. He was a private tutor for years, and then an actor, before he became

Myanmar, The Toungoo dynasty

2005-04-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

In 1531 a dynasty was established at Toungoo by Tabinshwehti, and by then the new kingdom had become powerful enough to conquer northern Myanmar from the Shan and southern Myanmar from the Mon. In 1511 the great trading entrepôt of Malacca (Melaka) on the Malay Peninsula had been conquered by the Portuguese, which led to a renewal of interest in trade in Myanmar's coastal waters.

Athens

2005-04-03T13:59:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1805) of Athens county, southeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies along the Hocking River, 73 miles (117 km) southeast of Columbus. It was founded in 1800 by the territorial legislature as the seat of the American Western University, which was renamed Ohio University in 1804. Athens and the university campus were laid out by General Rufus Putnam and the Reverend Manasseh Cutler. The village

Middleton, Stanley

2005-04-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

Educated at University College, Nottingham (now University of Nottingham; B.A., 1940; M.Ed, 1952), Middleton served in the British army's Royal Artillery and in the Army Education Corps. He later taught English and became department

Hess, (walter Richard) Rudolf

2005-04-01T16:10:00.000-08:00

The son of a merchant, Hess served in the German army during World War I. After the

Halberd

2005-03-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Halbert, or Halbard, weapon consisting of an ax blade balanced by a pick with an elongated pike head at the end of the staff. It was usually about 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 feet) long. The halberd was an important weapon in middle Europe in the 15th and early 16th centuries. It enabled a foot soldier to contend with an armoured man on horseback; the pike head was used to keep the horseman at a distance, and the ax blade

Casserius, Julius

2005-03-29T03:30:00.000-08:00

Casserius was a servant of Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente, professor of anatomy and surgery at the University of Padua. Instructed

Insurance, Liability insurance

2005-03-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

There are at least four major types of liability insurance contracts:

Charles

2005-03-27T03:50:00.000-08:00

Charles's claim to Brittany through his marriage to Joan the Lame of Penthièvre, niece of Duke John III of Brittany, led to a conflict with the other claimants, John of Montfort and later his son Duke John IV of Brittany, in the 20-year War of the Breton Succession, which also involved the

Torelli, Giacomo

2005-03-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Torelli's early life. In 1641 he was a military engineer at Venice. Already known as an architect, he built two churches there. Having erected the Teatro Novissimo at Venice, he furnished it

Interior Design, Concepts of design

2005-03-25T07:29:00.000-08:00

The scale and proportion of any interior must always relate to the architecture within which the interior exists, but the other important factor in considering the scale of man's environment is the human body. Throughout the ages, designers and architects have attempted to establish ideal proportions. The most famous of all axioms about proportion was the golden

Biblical Literature, The final period of the kingdom of Judah

2005-03-24T23:19:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah was to have another century and a half of existence before a similar and even grimmer fate befell it. Hezekiah (reigned c. 715–c. 686), who instituted a religious reform to return worship to a pure Yahwist form, also displayed political independence, joining a coalition of Palestinian states against Assyria. But the coalition was soon

Eiseley, Loren (corey)

2005-03-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

Eiseley was educated at the University of Nebraska (B.A., 1933) and the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1935; Ph.D., 1937) and began his academic career at the University of Kansas (1937–44) and Oberlin College (1944–47). In his long association with the University

China, Ch'ing society

2005-03-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

Chinese society continued to be highly stratified during the early Ch'ing. Hereditary status groups in the society ranged from the descendants of the Imperial line down to the “mean people” at the bottom of the social ladder. Many professions were hereditary: bannermen, brewers, dyers, doctors, navigators, and Taoist priests usually passed on their occupations to

Najahid Dynasty

2005-03-21T04:55:00.000-08:00

Muslim dynasty of Ethiopian Mamluks (slaves) that ruled Yemen in the period 1022–1158 from its capital at Zabid. The Ziyadid kingdom at Zabid (819–1018) had in its final years been controlled by Mamluk viziers, the last of whom divided Yemen between two slaves, Nafis and Najah. Nafis murdered the last Ziyadid ruler in 1018, and, after several years of bitter fighting and the death of Nafis, Najah emerged victorious

Wallas, Graham

2005-03-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Wallas studied at Oxford (1877–81) and was a teacher (1881–90). He joined the Fabian Society in 1886 and was a contributor to Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889). Growing dissatisfied with the anti-liberal

Anise

2005-03-19T03:36:00.000-08:00

(Pimpinella anisum), annual herb of the parsley family (Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae), cultivated chiefly for its fruits, called aniseed, the flavour of which resembles that of licorice. The plant, up to 0.75 m (2.5 feet) tall, has long-stalked basal leaves and shorter, stalked stem leaves. Its small, yellowish white flowers form loose umbels. The fruit, or seed, is nearly

Saudi Arabia, Religion

2005-03-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam, and its native population is almost entirely Sunnite Muslim (i.e., adhering to the chief branch of Islam, Sunnism [Sunnah], called traditionalist or orthodox). The Wahhabi interpretation of Sunnite Islam is the one officially used. Wahhabism, as it is called in the West, is a puritanical interpretation and is named after Muhammad ibn 'Abd

China, Armed forces

2005-03-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the unified organization of all Chinese land, sea, and air forces. The history of the PLA is officially traced to the Nan-ch'ang Uprising of Aug. 1, 1927, which is celebrated annually as PLA Day. The PLA is one of the world's largest military forces, with approximately 3,000,000 members. Military service is compulsory for all men who attain the age of 18; women

Aragonite

2005-03-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

Widespread mineral, the stable form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) at high pressures. It may be distinguished from calcite, the commoner form of calcium carbonate, by its greater hardness and specific gravity. Aragonite is always found in deposits formed at low temperatures near the surface of the Earth, as in caves as stalactites, in the oxidized zone of ore minerals

Pacific, War Of The

2005-03-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

Spanish Guerra Del Pacífico (1879–83), conflict involving Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, which resulted in Chilean annexation of valuable disputed territory on the Pacific coast. It grew out of a dispute between Chile and Bolivia over control of a part of the Atacama Desert that lies between the 23rd and 26th parallels on the Pacific coast of South America. The territory contained valuable mineral resources, particularly

Clodomir

2005-03-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Clovis I by Clotilda, Clodomir shared in the fourfold partition of his father's kingdom in 511, receiving lands in western and central France; his was the only one of the four kingdoms to form a single geographical unit on both sides of the Loire River. In 523, with his two full brothers, Chlotar

Houdon, Jean-antoine

2005-03-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

Houdon began sculpturing at the age of nine and underwent the

Power, Balance Of

2005-03-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

In international relations, the posture and policy of a nation or group of nations protecting itself against another nation or group of nations by matching its power against the power of the other side. States can pursue a policy of balance of power in two ways: by increasing their own power, as when engaging in an armaments race or in the competitive acquisition of

Diez, Friedrich Christian

2005-03-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

As a student Diez acquired a deep interest in Italian poetry, but a visit to the great German poet J.W. von Goethe in 1818 directed his attention to exploring

Saudi Arabia, Transportation

2005-03-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

About one-third of the country's roads are paved. The first coast-to-coast road connection, from Ad-Dammam on the gulf to Jiddah on the Red Sea, by way of Riyadh, was opened in 1967; it includes a spectacular descent of the western escarpment from At-Ta'if to Mecca. Other important connections are from Riyadh northwestward through Najd to Ha'il, from Riyadh southwestward to the

Algeria, Resources

2005-03-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

Deposits of natural gas were first discovered at Hassi R'Mel in 1956, and since

López Velarde, Ramón

2005-03-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

López Velarde studied law and was a journalist and civil servant. His first book of poems, La sangre devota (1916; “Devout Blood”), treats the simplicity of country life, the tension between sensuality and spirituality, and

Extinction

2005-03-11T01:26:00.000-08:00

In biology, the dying out or termination of a race or species. Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels. Most extinctions are thought to have resulted from environmental changes that affected the species in either of two ways. The doomed species might not have been able to adapt to the changed environment and thus perished without

Raymond Of Peñafort, Saint

2005-03-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

He studied canon law at Bologna and taught there from 1218 to 1221. Among his works of this period were unpublished annotations

Hardness Tester

2005-03-10T01:25:00.000-08:00

Brinell hardness is determined by forcing a hardened steel or carbide ball of known diameter under a known load into a surface and measuring the diameter of the

Dabbling Duck

2005-03-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Dipping, Surface-feeding, Pond, River, or Freshwater Duck, any of about 38 species of Anas and about 5 species in other genera, constituting the tribe Anatini, subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae (q.v.; order Anseriformes). They feed mainly on water plants, which they obtain by tipping-up in shallows—uncommonly by diving (with opened wings); they often forage near the shore for seeds and insects. The bill is flat and broad, the

Insurance, Perils clause

2005-03-09T04:23:00.000-08:00

Until 1978 the main insuring clause of modern ocean marine policies was preserved almost unchanged from the original 1779 Lloyd's of London form. The clause is as follows:Touching the adventures and perils which we the assurers are contented to bear and do take upon us in this voyage: they are of the seas, men-of-war, fire, enemies, pirates, rovers, thieves, jettisons, letters of mart

Rabbula

2005-03-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

Reforming bishop of Edessa and theologian who was a leading figure in the Christian church in Syria. He advocated the orthodox Alexandrian (Egypt) position in the 5th-century controversy with the Antiochian (Syria) school of Nestorianism, a heretical teaching that denied that the person of Christ possessed both a divine and

Trade Agreement

2005-03-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

For most countries international trade is regulated by unilateral barriers of several types, including tariffs, nontariff barriers, and outright prohibitions. Trade agreements

Insurance, Perils clause

2005-03-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

PABA is not an essential nutrient for vertebrates,

Faraday Effect

2005-03-05T23:53:00.000-08:00

In physics, the rotation of the plane of polarization (plane of vibration) of a light beam by a magnetic field. Michael Faraday, an English scientist, first observed the effect in 1845 when studying the influence of a magnetic field on plane-polarized light waves. (Light waves vibrate in two planes at right angles to one another, and passing ordinary light through certain

Facsimile

2005-03-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

Also called Fax, or Telefax, in telecommunications, the transmission and reproduction of documents by wire or radio wave. Common fax machines are designed to scan printed textual and graphic material and then transmit the information through the telephone network to similar machines, where the documents are reproduced in close to their original form. Such machines, because of their low

Malatya

2005-03-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

City, east-central Turkey. It lies in a fertile plain watered by the Tohma River (a tributary of the Euphrates) and is surrounded by high ranges of the eastern Taurus Mountains. The modern town was founded in 1838 near the sites of two earlier settlements: the ancient Hittite city of Milid, on the site of the present-day Arslantepe, 4 miles (6 km) north, and its successor, the Roman and

Taidu

2005-03-04T04:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ta-tu , Mongol Khanbaliq the city of Peking (q.v.) under the Mongols.

Lewis, Robert

2005-03-03T21:35:00.000-08:00

American actor, drama teacher, and theatre director who cofounded, directed, and performed in the 1930s with the Group Theatre in such plays as Waiting for Lefty and Golden Boy before helping to found (1947) the Actors Studio, where for one year he tutored such future stars as Marlon Brando and Karl Malden; he eventually went on to Broadway, where he directed Brigadoon, Teahouse

Zakrzewska, Marie Elizabeth

2005-03-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

Zakrzewska early developed a strong interest in medicine, and at age 20 she was admitted to the school for midwives at the

Bellingshausen, Fabian Gottlieb Von

2005-03-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

Commanding

Abu Shahrayn

2005-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

Mound in southern Iraq, site of the ancient Sumerian city of Eridu (q.v.).

Johansson, Christian

2005-03-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Johansson studied at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and in Copenhagen with August Bournonville, who was most responsible for establishing the traditions of the Royal Danish

Gas

2005-02-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

The best elementary discussion of the kinetic theory of gases is T.G. Cowling, Molecules in Motion (1960), clearly explaining the fundamental physical ideas without excessive mathematical manipulation. Other elementary books include Joel H. Hildebrand, An Introduction to Molecular Kinetic Theory (1963); Sidney Golden, Elements of the Theory of Gases (1964); and Walter Kauzmann, Kinetic Theory of Gases (1966). Two excellent books make greater demands on the mathematical background of the reader: James Jeans, An Introduction to the Kinetic Theory of Gases (1940, reissued 1982), which is an abridged and slightly simplified version of the author's classic The Dynamical Theory of Gases, 4th ed. (1925, reissued 1954); and Richard D. Present, Kinetic Theory of Gases (1958), an excellent though selective textbook. The historical literature is especially rich; the following works may be profitably consulted: J.S. Rowlinson (ed.), J.D. van der Waals: On the Continuity of the Gaseous and Liquid States (1988), a translation of van der Waals's 1873 Dutch thesis with a marvelous extended introductory essay by the editor that is unique in the field and surveys modern developments in the theory of liquids and solutions; Stephen G. Brush (ed.), Kinetic Theory, 3 vol. (1965–72), a set of famous historical papers along with introductory commentaries and summaries by the editor; Robert Lindsay (ed.), Early Concepts of Energy in Atomic Physics (1979), selections from famous historical papers—many of them omitted from the previous work—together with the editor's comments; and Stephen G. Brush, The Kind of Motion We Call Heat: A History of the Kinetic Theory of Gases in the 19th Century, 2 vol. (1976, reissued 1986), a thorough historical account without much mathematics, and Statistical Physics and the Atomic Theory of Matter: From Boyle and Newton to Landau and Onsager (1983), covering a much broader range and requiring a thorough scientific background. More advanced professional treatments include Sydney Chapman and T.G. Cowling, The Mathematical Theory of Non-uniform Gases, 3rd ed. (1970, reprinted 1990), the acknowledged classic on the modern kinetic theory of gases based on the Enskog-Chapman approach; Joseph O. Hirschfelder, Charles F. Curtiss, and R. Byron Bird, Molecular Theory of Gases and Liquids (1954, reissued with added notes 1964), a monumental compendium of detailed results on equations of state, transport properties of gases, and intermolecular forces, especially valuable as a reference; J.H. Ferziger and H.G. Kaper, Mathematical Theory of Transport Processes in Gases (1972), successfully combining the best features of the previous two works; Carlo Cercignani, The Boltzmann Equation and Its Applications (1988), by a mathematician, one of the few books that concerns itself with free-molecule gases and the transition to continuum behaviour; and Frederick R.W. McCourt et al., Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Polyatomic Gases, 2 vol. (1990–91), an account of the extension of the Enskog-Chapman theory to include truly molecular shape effects, including the effects of external electric and magnetic fields and of surface collisions. Special topics are addressed in Martin Knudsen, The Kinetic Theory of Gases, 3rd ed. (1950), a series of lectures from 1933 on rarefied gas phenomena, by one of the experimental pioneers in the subject; K.E. Grew and T.L. Ibbs, Thermal Diffusion in Gases (1952), a short monograph on one of the more intriguing special topics of the kinetic theory of gases; J.S. Rowlinson, The Perfect Gas (1963), emphasizing the internal mechanics of molecules as related to the calculation of the thermodynamic properties of gases by statistical mechanics; and E.A. Mason and T.H. Spurling, The Virial Equation of State (1969), emphasizing experimental measurements and the detailed connection with intermolecular forces.

Pemba Island

2005-02-27T01:50:00.000-08:00

Arabic Jazirat Al-khudrah, island in the Indian Ocean, lying 35 miles (56 km) off the coast of East Africa, opposite the port of Tanga, Tanzania. The island embraces 380 square miles (984 square km) and is 42 miles (67 km) long and 14 miles (22 km) wide. As the Arabic name, which means “Green Island,” suggests, it is more fertile than its sister island, Zanzibar, which lies 30 miles (48 km) to the southwest. Pemba is the world's leading producer

Per Ramessu

2005-02-26T21:27:00.000-08:00

Probably founded in the Old Kingdom, the city was overrun by Palestinian peoples in about 1700 BC and became the Hyksos capital about 1530 BC. Sacked by the victorious pharaoh Ahmose about 1521 BC, it

Nabataean

2005-02-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

Member of a people of ancient Arabia whose settlements lay in the borderlands between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates River to the Red Sea. Little is known about them before 312 BC, when they were unsuccessfully attacked by Demetrius I Poliorcetes, king of Macedonia, in their mountain fortress of Petra south of the Dead Sea. Their monopoly on the rich caravan trade that

Wright, Warren

2005-02-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

Wright was educated in public schools and in business college and, starting in 1890, worked for more than 25 years in the firm that his father had founded, the Calumet Baking Powder Company in Chicago. He succeeded to its presidency

Halston

2005-02-24T00:38:00.000-08:00

Halston studied at Indiana University and the Art Institute of Chicago and operated a millinery shop in Chicago before joining milliner Lilly Daché in New York City. In 1959 he became a milliner for Bergdorf Goodman; in 1966 he expanded his line into clothes

Vening Meinesz, Felix Andries

2005-02-23T22:11:00.000-08:00

Participating in a gravimetric survey of The Netherlands soon after he graduated from Delft Technical University as a civil engineer in 1910, Vening Meinesz devised an apparatus based on pendulums swinging together in opposite phase for use on the

Skagen

2005-02-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

Also called The Skaw city and port, Nordjylland amtskommune (county commune), northern Jutland, Denmark, near the northern tip of the peninsula on the Kattegat strait. Chartered in 1413, it is one of the principal fishing centres in Denmark. It is also a summer resort and, from the 1870s, the site of an artists' and writers' colony. Notable are the Rå-bjerg Mile sand dunes to the south and the Old Church, which

Disarmament

2005-02-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

In international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] for the disarmament of Germany and its allies is an example of this conception of disarmament); (2) bilateral disarmament agreements applying to specific geographic areas (naval

Li Keran

2005-02-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

Li showed a gift for painting, calligraphy, and music as a child. When he was 13, he began to study landscape

Babuyan Islands

2005-02-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

Island group of the Philippines that is a northerly extension of the Philippine archipelago. The Babuyan Islands lie in the Luzon Strait, south of the Batan Islands and Balintang Channel. They lie 20 miles (32 km) north of Luzon across the Babuyan Channel. With a total area of 230 square miles (600 square km), they comprise 24 volcanic-coralline islands, the chief of which are Babuyan,

Mckim, Charles Follen

2005-02-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

McKim was educated at Harvard and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was trained as a draftsman by the architect H.H. Richardson while the latter was completing Trinity Church, Boston. In 1879 he joined William Rutherford Mead

Mansehra

2005-02-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. The town is situated at the southern end of the Pakhli Plain on the Bhut Stream, a tributary to the Siran River, at an elevation of 3,682 feet (1,122 m) above sea level. It is a market town surrounded by pine-covered hills and has a flour mill, a woolen-yarn mill, and an agricultural research centre. The nearby Asokan rock edicts

Biblical Literature, The need for consolidation and delimitation

2005-02-19T04:42:00.000-08:00

Viewed both phenomenologically and practically, the canon had to be consolidated and delimited. Seen historically, however, there were a number of reasons that forced the issue of limiting the canon. Oral tradition had begun to deteriorate in post-apostolic times, partly because many or most of the eyewitnesses to the earliest events of Jesus' life and death and

France, History Of, Regrowth of the French monarchy

2005-02-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

Thus the monarchy recovered much of the authority it had lost during the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. Although its influence in Burgundy and Flanders, now united in a formidable dynastic association, had declined, its definitive recovery of Aquitaine consolidated a direct domain, again extensive enough to free the Valois from anxiety about landed resources.

Gender Identity

2005-02-17T02:21:00.000-08:00

An individual's self-conception as being male or female, as distinguished from actual biological sex. For most persons, gender identity and biological characteristics are the same. There are, however, circumstances in which an individual experiences little or no connection between sex and gender; in transsexualism, for example, biological sexual characteristics

Ealing

2005-02-17T00:49:00.000-08:00

Outer borough of London, part of the historic county of Middlesex, midway between central London and the western periphery. The borough was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former municipal boroughs of Ealing, Acton, and Southall, all in the former county of Middlesex. It includes the districts and neighbourhoods of (from west to east) West End, Northolt, Southall,

Linus

2005-02-15T21:29:00.000-08:00

According to the Argive story, Linus, child of Apollo (god of light, truth, and prophecy) and Psamathe (daughter of Crotopus, king of Argos),

Peter I

2005-02-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

Married by his cousin King Philip II Augustus of France to Alix, heiress to Brittany, Peter did homage for the province in 1213 and assumed the title of duke, though he was considered merely a count

Subic Bay

2005-02-15T02:59:00.000-08:00

Bay of the South China Sea, southwestern Luzon, Philippines. The bay is located 35 miles (55 km) northwest of the mouth of Manila Bay and extends northward into the Luzon coastline. From 1901 to 1992, on the southeast coast of the bay, the United States operated a naval base, Subic Bay Naval Station, the largest naval installation in the Philippines. Olongapo is the largest settlement

Renkum

2005-02-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Gelderland provincie, central Netherlands. Renkum is situated on the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River, immediately west of Arnhem, and comprises the communities of Oosterbeek (the local government centre), Renkum, Doorwerth, Heelsum, and Wolfheze. The locality was especially associated with the Battle of Arnhem in World War II; on the Oosterbeek village

Fibre Optics

2005-02-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Fiber Optics, the science of transmitting data, voice, and images by the passage of light through thin, transparent fibres. In telecommunications, fibre optic technology has virtually replaced copper wire in long-distance telephone lines, and it is used to link computers within local area networks. Fibre optics is also the basis of the fibrescopes used in examining internal

Interactive Multimedia

2005-02-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

Any computer-delivered electronic system that allows the user to control, combine, and manipulate different types of media, such as text, sound, video, computer graphics, and animation. Interactive multimedia integrate computer, memory storage, digital (binary) data, telephone, television, and other information technologies. Their most common applications include

Roman-fleuve

2005-02-12T02:14:00.000-08:00

(French: “novel stream”), series of novels, each one complete in itself, that deals with one central character, an era of national life, or successive generations of a family. Inspired by Honoré de Balzac's Comédie humaine and Émile Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, the roman-fleuve was a popular literary genre in France during the first half of the 20th century. Examples include

Radek, Karl (bernhardovich)

2005-02-12T01:14:00.000-08:00

A member of a Galician Jewish family, Radek attended the universities of Kraków and Bern. Having joined the Social Democratic Party of Poland and

Biblical Literature, The canon of the Prophets

2005-02-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

The Hebrew canon of the section of the Old Testament known as the Nevi'im, or the Prophets, is divided into two sections: the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets. The Former Prophets contains four historical books—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings; the Latter Prophets includes four prophetic works—the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve (Minor) Prophets.

Obuasi

2005-02-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Ghana. Its growth was stimulated by the discovery of a large gold deposit in 1897 and the building of the railway from Sekondi in 1902. The Asante gold mine at Obuasi has continued as the country's major producer while others have become depleted. It is one of the world's richest gold mines in terms of yield per ton of ore. By the end of the 20th century, it was the 10th largest

Daventry

2005-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Daventry town before Domesday Book (1086), the record of the land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, although

Epidaurus

2005-02-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greece, important commercial centre on the eastern coast of the Argolid in the northeastern Peloponnese; it is famed for its 4th-century-BC temple of Asclepius, the god of healing. Excavations of the sacred precinct reveal that it contained temples to Asclepius and Artemis, a theatre, stadium, gymnasiums, baths, a tholos, a hospital, and an abaton, an area where

Golden Gate

2005-02-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

Strait, in California, western coastal U.S., connecting San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean and separating San Francisco from Marin County. An ancient river mouth, it is about 3 miles (5 km) long, from 1 to 3 miles wide, and 300 feet (90 m) deep and serves as the ocean gateway to the port cities of the bay and the Sacramento–San Joaquin river system. The strait, now spanned by the Golden

Cumaná

2005-02-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Sucre estado (“state”), northeastern Venezuela. On the Manzanares River, 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from its port, Puerto Sucre, on the Caribbean Sea at the mouth of the river, Cumaná has an elevation of 52 feet (16 m) and an average temperature of 83° F (28° C). Founded as Nueva Córdoba in 1523, Cumaná claims to be the oldest European settlement on the South American mainland. Despite attacks

Earth Exploration, Excavation, boring, and sampling

2005-02-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

Direct sampling, usually by means of boreholes, is required to make positive identification of ores, fuels, and other materials. It is also necessary for determining their quantity and for selecting methods of recovery. Most deep boreholes are drilled by the rotary method, in which a drill bit is rotated while fluid (“drilling mud”) is circulated through the bit to lubricate

Bhagalpur

2005-02-05T23:53:00.000-08:00

City, eastern Bihar state, northeastern India, just south of the Ganges River. The city has major road and rail connections and trades in agricultural produce and cloth. Major industries include rice and sugar milling and woolen weaving. Bhagalpur is also noted for its silk production. A sericulture institute and an agricultural-research station have been established,

Absolute Idealism

2005-02-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

A philosophical theory chiefly associated with G.W.F. Hegel and Friedrich Schelling, both German idealist philosophers of the 19th century, Josiah Royce, an American philosopher, and others, but, in its essentials, the product of Hegel. Absolute Idealism can generally be characterized as including the following principles: (1) the common everyday world of things and embodied

Prickly Heat

2005-02-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

A noncontagious skin eruption of red pimples with intense itching and tingling caused by inflammation around the sweat glands. It is a form of miliaria (q.v.).

Cytosine

2005-02-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Cytosine is one of several types of bases that are incorporated into the nucleic acid molecule. Nucleic acids are composed of

Indian Philosophy

2005-02-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

The systems of thought and reflection that were developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. They include both orthodox (astika) systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-mimamsa, and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. Indian thought has been concerned with various philosophical problems,

Bruce (of Melbourne), Stanley Melbourne Bruce, Viscount

2005-02-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Bruce studied at the University of Cambridge and then practiced law in England. After serving in the British army during World War I, he entered the Australian Parliament in

Caucasian Languages, The Lak-Dargin languages

2005-02-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

Lak (also spelled Lakk, with some 100,000 speakers) and Dargin (or Dargwa, with 350,000) are spoken in the central part of Dagestan. Both are written languages. The Lak language is quite homogeneous with regard to its dialects; Dargin, however, possesses several diversified dialects—sometimes considered as separate languages (e.g., Kubachi). Some view Lak and Dargin as independent language

Settat

2005-02-01T05:55:00.000-08:00

City, central Morocco. Situated on the coastal plain immediately south of Casablanca, the city is the largest market centre in the fertile Chaouia coastal plain. Settat city's most notable features are a late 17th-century casbah built by the 'Alawi ruler Moulay Isma'il and a millah (traditional Jewish quarter) established in the 19th century. The city is connected by road and

Burbidge, (eleanor) Margaret

2005-01-31T08:03:00.000-08:00

Burbidge served as assistant director (1948–50) and acting director

Girnar Hills

2005-01-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Physical region on the Kathiawar Peninsula, Gujarat state, west-central India. At the foot of one of the hills is a rock bearing one of the Rock Edicts of Asoka (3rd century BC). The same rock bears an inscription referring to the construction of a lake, called Sudarsana, by the Maurya emperor Candra Gupta (late 4th century BC). In the hills surrounding these two important historical records

Bexley

2005-01-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

Outer borough of eastern London, part of the historic county of Kent, on the south bank of the River Thames. It extends to the borough of Bromley in the south. Bexley was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former boroughs of Bexley and Erith, the urban district of Crayford, and part of Chislehurst and Sidcup. Within the borough are such areas as (roughly from north

Beadwork

2005-01-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

During the Middle Ages, when embroidery was an important art form, beads

Christian Reformed Church In North America

2005-01-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Protestant denomination that developed in the United States from a group that separated in 1857 from the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church (now the Reformed Church in America) and called itself the True Holland Reformed Church. It was strengthened in 1882 when joined by other dissenters from the Reformed Church in America who believed that the parent church should reject

Petén Itzá, Lake

2005-01-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Spanish Lago Petén Itzá, lake, northern Guatemala, 160 miles (260 km) northeast of Guatemala City. A depression in the low limestone plateau at an elevation of 262 feet (80 m) above sea level, it measures about 22 miles (35 km) from east to west and 10 miles (16 km) from north to south and is 165 feet (50 m) deep; its area is 40 square miles (100 square km). It has no visible outlet, because its drainage is underground. Once the stronghold of the Maya

Quandong Nut

2005-01-26T22:00:00.000-08:00

Edible seed of the native peach (Santalum acuminatum), a small shrubby tree of the sandalwood family (Santalaceae), native to Australia. Unlike other members of this family, the native peach is grown for its fruit and nuts rather than for its wood. The nutritious, red, pulpy flesh of the fruit is used in jams, pies, and chutneys. The hard-shelled, edible nuts are customarily

Alcuin

2005-01-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

Anglo-Latin poet, educator, and cleric who, as head of the Palatine school established by Charlemagne at Aachen, introduced the traditions of Anglo-Saxon humanism into western Europe. He was the foremost scholar of the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He also made important reforms in the Roman

Abbevillian Industry

2005-01-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

Prehistoric stone-tool tradition generally considered to represent the oldest occurrence in Europe of a bifacial (hand-ax) technology. The Abbevillian industry dates from an imprecisely determined part of the Middle Pleistocene, somewhat less than 700,000 years ago. It was recovered from high terrace sediments of the lower Somme valley, in a suburb of Abbeville, Fr. The

Ear, Human, Hearing tests

2005-01-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Before the development of electroacoustic equipment for generating and measuring sound, the available tests of hearing gave approximate answers at best. A person's hearing could be specified in terms of the ability to distinguish the ticking of a watch or the clicking of coins or the distance at which conversational speech or a whispered voice could be understood.

Berenice

2005-01-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

The eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I by his wife Cypros, Berenice was married at a young age to Marcus, the son of Alexander the Alabarch. Before consummating the marriage, Marcus died, and Berenice then married Herod, king of Chalcis, with whom she had two sons. Following

District Of Columbia

2005-01-24T05:02:00.000-08:00

Federal district, eastern United States, on the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (q.v.).

Lag Ba-'omer

2005-01-23T03:08:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Lag B'omer, or Lag Be-omer, a minor Jewish observance falling on the 33rd day in the period of the counting of the 'omer (“barley sheaves”); on this day semimourning ceases and weddings are allowed. The origin of the festival is obscure. Among many traditions, one has it that manna first fell from heaven on this day; another tradition claims that a plague that raged among the followers of Rabbi Akiba ben

Axiology

2005-01-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

(from Greek axios, “worthy”; logos, “science”), also called Theory Of Value, the philosophical study of goodness, or value, in the widest sense of these terms. Its significance lies (1) in the considerable expansion that it has given to the meaning of the term value and (2) in the unification that it has provided for the study of a variety of questions—economic, moral, aesthetic, and even