CertainPump

Race, European conquest and the classification of the conquered

2005-04-05T05:32:00.000-07:00

As they were constructing their own racial identities internally, western European nations were also colonizing most of what has been called, in recent times, the Third World, in Asia and Africa. Since all of the colonized and subordinated people differed physically from Europeans, the colonizers automatically applied racial categories to them and initiated

Kochno, Boris

2005-04-05T05:29:00.000-07:00

Kochno studied at the Imperial Lycée in Moscow until the 1917 Russian Revolution, when he and his mother left the country, eventually

Novella

2005-04-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Short and well-structured narrative, often realistic and satiric in tone, that influenced the development of the short story and the novel throughout Europe. Originating in Italy during the Middle Ages, the novella was based on local events that were humorous, political, or amorous in nature; the individual tales often were gathered into collections along with

Piedmont

2005-04-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Geographic region in the eastern United States, running some 600 miles (950 km) between New Jersey (north) and Alabama (south) and lying between the Appalachian Mountains (west) and the Atlantic Coastal Plain (east). It comprises a relatively low rolling plateau (from 300 to 1,800 feet [90 to 550 m]) cut by many rivers and is a fertile agricultural region. Cotton is the most important crop in the southern

Eliot, T.s.

2005-04-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

In full Thomas Stearns Eliot American-English poet, playwright, literary critic, and editor, a leader of the modernist movement in poetry in such works as The Waste Land (1922) and The Four Quartets (1943). Eliot exercised a strong influence on Anglo-American culture from the 1920s until late in the century. His experiments in diction, style, and versification revitalized English

Carloman

2005-04-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

Second son of Louis II and king of France or the West Franks (882–884). On Louis II's death (879) Carloman was associated with his brother Louis III as king of the West Franks, but both, as the children of a first marriage that had been unacceptable to their grandfather Charles the Bald, had difficulty in obtaining recognition. On Louis's death (882) Carloman became sole ruler. He died while

Rickets

2005-04-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that is produced in the skin by the action of sunlight's ultraviolet rays on its precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol (provitamin D3). Vitamin D is also absorbed from the diet, especially from irradiated milk, liver, and fish oils.

Tibet, Industry

2005-04-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

Before the 1950s Tibet had no modern industries. There were small handicraft centres that were owned either individually or collectively and that produced scroll paintings, metal images, wooden block prints, and religious images. For these crafts, the lag-shes-pa, or craftsmen, had to be well versed in literature and mathematics. There were also carpet weavers, tanners,

Indonesia, Animal life

2005-04-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

Indonesia is located in the transitional zone between two of the world's major faunal regions: the Oriental of Asia in the west and the Australasian of Australia and New Guinea in the east. The boundary of these realms, called Wallace's Line, runs between Borneo and Celebes in the north and Bali and Lombok in the south. To the west the Asian animal community includes such

Madhubuti, Haki R.

2005-03-30T17:14:00.000-08:00

Lee attended several colleges in Chicago and graduate school at the University of Iowa (M.F.A., 1984); he also served in the U.S. Army (1960–63). He taught at various colleges and universities, in 1984 becoming a faculty member at Chicago State University. His poetry, which began to appear in the 1960s, was written in black dialect

Athanasian Creed

2005-03-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Quicumque Vult (from the opening words in Latin) a Christian profession of faith in about 40 verses. It is regarded as authoritative in the Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches. It has two sections, one dealing with the Trinity and the other with the Incarnation; and it begins and ends with stern warnings that unswerving adherence to such truths is indispensable to salvation. The virulence of these damnatory

Tizi Ouzou

2005-03-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

Town, north-central Algeria, in the Great Kabylie. It lies in a narrow valley of the Wadi Tizi Ouzou, separated from the Wadi Sébaou Valley by Mount Beloua. Named for the flowering broom (ouzou) that grows in the pass (tizi) connecting the two valleys, Tizi Ouzou was built by the Turks and enlarged by the French. The town is a regional trade centre noted for basketry; it is the

Tabora

2005-03-27T02:26:00.000-08:00

Formerly Kazeh, town, west-central Tanzania. Lying on the Central Plateau at an elevation of 4,000 feet (1,200 m), it has a mean annual temperature of 73° F (23° C). The town has been the capital of the Nyamwezi people and was the major trade link between the coast and the Congo River basin prior to European colonial rule. As the junction point of the east-west (Dar es-Salaam–Ujiji) railway and the north-south railway

Lugones, Leopoldo

2005-03-27T00:53:00.000-08:00

Argentine poet, literary and social critic, and cultural ambassador, considered by many the outstanding figure of his age in the cultural life of Argentina. He was a strong influence on the younger generation of writers that included the prominent short-story writer and novelist Jorge Luis Borges. His influence

Arabia, History Of, Saudi Arabia

2005-03-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

Ibn Sa'ud's zealous Wahhabi followers, arriving in the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of Hejaz society, were now exposed to the world of Islam at large. Ibn Sa'ud managed the resulting problems with firmness and tact. He had furthermore to enforce his rule over the tribes impatient with centralized government. His tough action with them won, and he set out to develop security,

Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne D'

2005-03-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

The son of prominent Montreal fur trader Charles Le Moyne, Iberville spent his young manhood in raids against English trading posts on

Ashes

2005-03-25T01:30:00.000-08:00

Symbol of victory in the usually biennial cricket Test (international) match series between select national teams of England and Australia, first staged in 1877. Its name stems from an epitaph published in 1882 after the Australian team had won its first victory over England in England, at the Oval, London. The epitaph lamented that English cricket was dead and that its body

Almanac

2005-03-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

Book or table containing a calendar of the days, weeks, and months of the year; a record of various astronomical phenomena, often with weather predictions and seasonal suggestions for farmers; and miscellaneous other data. An almanac provides data on the rising and setting times of the Sun and Moon, the phases of the Moon, the positions of the planets, schedules of high

Aesthetics, Relationship between form and content

2005-03-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

Two related paradoxes also emerge from the same basic conception of the aesthetic experience. The first was given extended consideration by Hegel, who argued, in his Vorlesungen über die Aesthetik (1832; “Lectures on Aesthetics”; Eng. trans., Philosophy of Fine Art), roughly as follows: Our sensuous appreciation of art concentrates upon the given “appearance”—the “form.” It is

Insurance, Direct losses

2005-03-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

Losses may be settled on a replacement-cost

Zhou Yang

2005-03-23T01:57:00.000-08:00

Zhou joined the Chinese Communist Party soon after the failure of the revolution in 1927. A graduate of Ta-hsia University in Shanghai in 1928, he went to Japan for advanced study in 1929. Upon returning to China in 1931 he became one of the leaders

Ear, Human, Auditory ossicles

2005-03-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Crossing the middle-ear cavity is the short ossicular chain formed by three tiny bones that link the tympanic membrane with the oval window and inner ear (Figure 2). From the outside inward they are the malleus (hammer), the incus (anvil), and the stapes (stirrup). The malleus more closely resembles a club than a hammer, and the incus looks more like a premolar tooth with uneven

Armstrong, Edwin H.

2005-03-21T03:04:00.000-08:00

In full Edwin Howard Armstrong American inventor who laid the foundation for much of modern radio and electronic circuitry, including the regenerative and superheterodyne circuits and the frequency modulation (FM) system.

Marrucini

2005-03-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ancient tribe that occupied a small area around Teate (modern Chieti) on the east coast of Italy. The Marrucini, though Samnite kinsmen, were probably not members of the Samnite league; they did, however, come into conflict with the Romans during the Second Samnite War, at the end of which they entered the Roman alliance (304 BC). They revolted in 91 BC and were thereafter enrolled in

Arts, Central Asian, Visual arts

2005-03-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

Aleksandr Belenitsky, Central Asia (Eng. trans. 1969), a short general survey of the area and its art; M.P. Griaznov and A.P. Bulgakov, L'Art ancien de l'Altai (1958), a helpful introduction to the subject (in Russian and French); Basil Gray, Buddhist Cave Paintings at Tun-huang (1959), a scholarly study; René Grousset, L'Empire des steppes: Attila, Gengis-Khan, Tamerlan, 4th ed. (1960; Eng. trans., The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, 1970), and De la Grèce á la Chine (1948), especially useful historical surveys; Ormonde M. Dalton, The Treasure of the Oxus, 3rd ed. (1964), a specialized and authoritative survey of this collection of objects; Richard N. Frye, The Heritage of Persia (1962), a helpful widely embracing survey of the Persian culture; Bruno Dagens, Marc Le Berre, and Daniel Schlumberger, Monuments préislamiques d'Afghanistan (1964), an aid to understanding Kushan art; Karl Jettmar, Die frühen Steppenvölker (1964; Eng. trans., Art of the Steppes, 1967), a useful survey of nomadic animal art; Albert Von Le Coq, Auf Hellas Spuren in Oltturkistan (1926; Eng. trans., Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan, 1928), of great importance for the work in this area; Sergei Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen (1970; orig. pub. in Russian, 1953), indispensable to the student of Altaic nomads; Tamara Talbot Rice, The Ancient Arts of Central Asia (1965), a useful introduction to the subject; W.W. Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India (1938),still an indispensable work; David L. Snellgrove and Hugh E. Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet (1968), a general work that helps to place the various expressions of Tibetan art in an historical context—the index may be consulted for carving, metalwork, painting, and carpets; Giuseppe Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, 3 vol. (1949), the classic work on Tibetan religious painting; and Indo-Tibetica, 4 vol. (1932–41), a basic work (in Italian) for anyone seriously interested in Tibetan art, consisting largely of photographic plates, unobtainable elsewhere, and records of Tucci's early researches into Tibetan art history. George Roerich, Tibetan Paintings (1925), a useful introductory work containing 17 plates and detailed description; Walter Eugene Clark (ed.), Two Lamaistic Pantheons, 2 vol. (1937, reprinted in 1 vol., 1965), a detailed study of two sets of metal cast images useful for iconographic identifications; Alice Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, 2nd ed. (1928, reprinted 1962), an old but useful work that relates the main Tibetan Buddhas and divinities to their corresponding forms in Indian, Chinese, and Japanese tradition; B.B. Bhattacharyya, The Indian Buddhist Iconography, 2nd ed. rev. (1958), an indispensable introduction; Stella Kramrisch, The Art of Nepal (1964), the first stylistic history; Pratapaditya Pal, Vaisnava Iconology in Nepal (1970), an important contribution to the structure of meaning in the images of Vishnu; David L. Snellgrove, “Shrines and Temples of Nepal,” Arts Asiatiques, 8:3–10, 93–120 (1961); an introductory survey; D. Barrett, “The Buddhist Art of Tibet and Nepal,” Oriental Art (1957), a chronological study.

Maa-alused

2005-03-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

These terms refer to beings living under the earth with an existence quite parallel to that of people living on earth. The main differences are in the opposite

Fernández De Moratín, Leandro

2005-03-19T00:33:00.000-08:00

The son of the poet and playwright Nicolás Fernández de Moratín, he was an apologist of the French Encyclopaedists, a translator of Molière and William Shakespeare, and a satirist of contemporary society. The two predominant

Overtone

2005-03-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

Harmonics

Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-03-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

Dov Baer, Shivhé ha-Besht (1814), is the earliest collection of legends (in Hebrew) about the Ba'al Shem Tov. Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R. Mintz (eds. and trans.), In Praise of Baal Shem Tov (1970), offers an English translation of Dov Baer's legends, based upon the 1814 edition. Meyer Levin, The Golden Mountain (1932); and Martin Buber, Die Legende des Baalschem (1932; The Legend of the Baal-Shem, 1955), retell with literary flair the legends of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Salomo Birnbaum, Leben und Worte des Baalschem (1920; The Life and Sayings of the Baal Shem, 1933), contains excerpts from the writings and teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov.

Altai Mountains

2005-03-18T02:28:00.000-08:00

The system has three main subdivisions: the Altai proper (formerly

Lurton, Horace H(armon)

2005-03-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

Lurton enlisted in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the war and was twice taken prisoner, but he was paroled by President Abraham Lincoln the second time upon his mother's appeal, pleading illness. After the war he finished his studies and established a successful

Wankel, Felix

2005-03-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

German engineer and inventor of the Wankel rotary engine. The Wankel engine is distinguished by the presence of an orbiting rotor in the shape of a curved equilateral triangle that does the work done by the moving pistons in other internal-combustion engines. Advantages of the Wankel engine include light weight, few moving parts, compactness,

Salalah

2005-03-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Oman, on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The town is located in the only part of the Arabian Peninsula touched by the Indian Ocean monsoon and thus is verdant during the summer. Salalah is the historic centre of Dhofar, famous in ancient times as a source of frankincense, and was described by Marco Polo in the 13th century as a prosperous city. Although it declined

Biblical Literature, Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics

2005-03-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

The Cambridge History of the Bible, 3 vol. (1963–70), includes contributions by specialists on biblical interpretation from pre-Christian times to the present day. J. Barr, Old and New in Interpretation (1966), discusses the relation between the Old and New Testaments and examines critically some of the interpretative principles favoured by exegetes and theologians; another work on this subject is E.C. Blackman, Biblical Interpretation (1957). C.E. Braaten, History and Hermeneutics (1966), discusses the relevance of the historical-critical method to theological study and the idea of revelation through history; F.F. Bruce, Biblical Exegesis in the Qumran Texts (1959), examines the interpretative principles followed by biblical commentaries and other documents among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The major work on the theme of salvation-history in the Bible is O. Cullmann, Salvation in History (1967). C.H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures (1952), shows the various ways in which the Christian interpretation of important areas of the Old Testament provided the substructure of New Testament theology. F.W. Farrar, History of Interpretation (1886, reprinted 1961), provides a classical survey of biblical exegesis from the early rabbinical period to the 19th century; R.M. Grant, A Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible, rev. ed. (1963), is probably the best work of its kind. B. Lindars, New Testament Apologetic (1962), studies the Old Testament quotations in the New Testament as evidence, in their text and interpretation, for the developing life and thought of the primitive church. J.M. Robinson and J.B. Cobb (eds.), The New Hermeneutic (1964), expounds modern hermeneutical concerns. B. Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, 2nd rev. ed. (1952), remains the standard work on early medieval exegesis. G. Vermes, Scripture and Tradition in Judaism (1961), gives an account of the interaction of the written text and oral tradition in Jewish exegesis of the pre-Christian and early rabbinical age. An outline of the history of biblical interpretation and of the main exegetical trends of the mid-20th century is presented in J.D. Wood, The Interpretation of the Bible (1958); A. Richardson and W. Schweitzer (eds.), Biblical Authority for Today (1951), discusses the difficulties of applying biblical ethics to some of the most urgent concerns of the modern world.

U2

2005-03-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

At a 1993 U2 concert all eyes focused on a darkened stage lit only by the flashing headlights of several suspended Trabant automobiles. Giant video monitors projected Nazi propaganda footage punctuated by staccato bursts of slogans--"The Media Is the Anti-Christ," "Everything You Know Is Wrong," "Everyone's a Racist Except You"--reminiscent of some kind of bizarre brainwashing

Pugachov, Yemelyan Ivanovich

2005-03-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

An illiterate Don Cossack, Pugachov fought in the Russian Army in the final battles of the Seven Years' War (1756–63), in Russia's campaign in Poland (1764), and in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–74. Following the siege and conquest of Bendery (1769–70), however, he returned

Absalom

2005-03-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

The picture of Absalom that is presented in 2 Samuel 13–19 suggests that he was the Alcibiades of the Old Testament, alike in his personal attractiveness, his lawless insolence, and his tragic fate. He is first mentioned as murdering his half brother Amnon, David's eldest son, in revenge for the rape of his

Novartis Ag

2005-03-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ciba-Geigy originated in the merger of two smaller Swiss firms, Ciba AG and J.R. Geigy SA. Ciba developed from a silk-dyeing business owned by Alexander Clavel,

Langeais

2005-03-11T21:43:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central France, Indre-et-Loire département, on the right bank of Loire River. It has a 15th-century château, notable as a fine example of pre-Renaissance architecture. The ruins of a keep first built there by Fulk III Nerra, count of Anjou, still stands in the park. The château was built for Jean Bourré, minister of Louis XI, and Charles VIII of France and Anne of Brittany

Azevedo, Aluízio

2005-03-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Azevedo studied at the school of fine arts of Rio de Janeiro and became a journalist. His works, modeled on the naturalistic novels of Émile Zola and imbued with antislavery, anticlerical,

Development

2005-03-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

The simplest form of development is a change (usually an increase) in size of an organ system or structure; simple growth, however, seldom occurs without accompanying chemical

Albany

2005-03-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1853) of Dougherty county, southwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies along the Flint River at the head of navigation, about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Columbus. Founded in 1836 by Colonel Nelson Tift, it was named for Albany, New York, and was early established as a leading cotton market. In 1857 a railroad connected it with Macon. Later, six other rail lines converged on the point to make it

North Germanic Languages

2005-03-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

About 125 inscriptions dated from AD 200 to 600, carved in the older runic alphabet (futhark), are chronologically and linguistically the oldest evidence of any Germanic language. Most are from Scandinavia, but enough have been found in southeastern Europe to suggest that the use of runes was also familiar to other Germanic tribes. Most inscriptions are brief, marking ownership

La Orotava

2005-03-09T03:09:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Tenerife island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia, Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), Spain, just southwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife city. The town is a health resort with its port, Puerto de la Cruz, on the coast immediately to the northwest. It lies in the Orotava Valley, known for its luxuriant vegetation and called the most beautiful

Acámbaro

2005-03-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern Guanajuato estado (“state”), central Mexico. Acámbaro lies along the Lerma River, in the central plateau, at 6,388 feet (1,947 m) above sea level. A Spanish settlement was founded there in 1526 on the site of a small Tarascan Indian village. With the construction of the Solís Reservoir, irrigation water became available to bring land under cultivation. Corn (maize), beans,

Consolidated Rail Corporation

2005-03-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Byname Conrail, publicly owned American railroad company established by the federal government under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 to take over six bankrupt northeastern railroads. Conrail commenced operations on April 1, 1976, with major portions of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, Erie Lackawanna Railway Company, Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Company, Lehigh

Alicatado

2005-03-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

Mosaic formed of polygonal, coloured glazed tiles. Made up into geometric patterns, they have been used mostly for paving Spanish and Moorish patios but also for wall surfaces. The expansion of the lands under Christian control in Spain in the 13th century led to a mixture of Gothic and Islamic styles (known as the Mudéjar style), in which alicatado was much used

Nagarakrtagama

2005-03-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

Javanese epic poem written in 1365 by Prapañca. Considered the most important work of the vernacular literature that developed in the Majapahit era, the poem venerates King Hayam Wuruk (reigned 1350–89) and gives a detailed account of life in his kingdom. It also includes information about King Kertanagara (reigned 1268–92), great-grandfather of Hayam Wuruk.

Niceforo, Alfredo

2005-03-05T18:36:00.000-08:00

Italian sociologist, criminologist, and statistician who posited the theory that every person has a “deep ego” of antisocial, subconscious impulses that represent a throwback to precivilized existence. Accompanying this ego, and attempting to keep its latent delinquency in check, according to his concept, is

Hancock, Winfield Scott

2005-03-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

A West Point graduate (1844), he served with distinction in the Mexican War (1846–48). Hancock was appointed a

Arts, Central Asian, The kingdoms of western Turkistan and Afghanistan

2005-03-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

Skill in irrigation, with the resulting expansion in agriculture, encouraged urbanism and the growth of states, changes that coincided with the rise of nomadism. While the nomadic cattle and horse breeders took over the steppelands, the culturally distinct states of Sogdiana (part of Uzbekistan and much of Tajikistan), Fergana (the greater part of Uzbekistan), Chorasmia

Athabasca, Lake

2005-03-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

Lake in Canada, astride the Alberta–Saskatchewan border, just south of the Northwest Territories. The lake, 208 mi (335 km) long by 32 mi wide, has an area of 3,064 sq mi (7,936 sq km) and a maximum depth of 407 ft (124 m). Fed from the southwest by the Peace and Athabasca rivers (the deltas of which have separated it from Lakes Claire and Mamawi), it is drained to the northwest by the Slave River, eventually reaching

Mountain, Mountain belts associated with crustal shortening

2005-03-03T14:26:00.000-08:00

Most mountain belts of the world and nearly all of those in Europe, Asia, and North America have been built by horizontal crustal shortening and associated crustal thickening. The landforms associated with such belts depend on the rates, amounts, and types of crustal deformation that occur and on the types of rocks that are exposed to erosion. To some extent the deformation

Gauss

2005-03-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Unit of magnetic induction in the centimetre-gram-second system of physical units. One gauss corresponds to the magnetic flux density that will induce an electromotive force of one abvolt (10-8 volt) in each linear centimetre of a wire moving laterally at one centimetre per second at right angles to a magnetic flux. One gauss corresponds to 10-4 tesla (T), the International

Afranius, Lucius

2005-03-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

In 60 BC, chiefly by Pompey's support, Afranius was raised to the consulship, in which office he proved himself incompetent to manage civil affairs. In the following year, while governor of Cisalpine Gaul, he obtained a triumph; and, on the allotment of Spain to Pompey (55 BC), Afranius

Fariña, Richard; And Fariña, Mimi

2005-03-02T00:43:00.000-08:00

Mimi Fariña's original name Margarita Mimi Baez American husband-and-wife folksinging duo who were significant figures in the folk music revival of the 1960s. Richard, also a novelist, was killed in a motorcycle accident just after the publication of his first novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me (1966; filmed

France, History Of, Napoleonic nobility

2005-03-02T00:41:00.000-08:00

Napoleon cultivated the loyalty of the nation's wealthy landed proprietors by a system of patronage and honours. He thereby facilitated the emergence of a ruling class drawn from both the middle classes and the nobility of the old regime, which had been divided by the artificial barriers of old-regime estates and privileges. The principal artifacts of Napoleon's

Block And Tackle

2005-03-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Combination of a flexible rope, or cable, and pulleys commonly used to augment pulling force; it can be used to lift heavy weights or to exert large forces in any direction. In the Figure there are four freely rotating pulleys, two on the upper block, which remains fixed, and two on the lower block, which moves up as the load W is lifted; one end of the rope is anchored to the upper

Kwinana

2005-03-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

Town, southwestern Western Australia. It lies along Cockburn Sound, just south of Perth. The name was taken from a freighter wrecked offshore in 1922; it is an Aboriginal word meaning “young woman.” The place was a small resort until the mid-1950s, when a large oil refinery with associated port facilities was completed to receive oil shipments from the Middle East. Since then, blast

Hardwick, Elizabeth

2005-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Hardwick attended the University of Kentucky (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939) and Columbia University in New York City. Her experience as a young Southern woman in Manhattan provided the backdrop for her somber, introspective first novel, The Ghostly

Base

2005-02-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Radix, in mathematics, an arbitrarily chosen number in terms of which any number can be expressed. See number system.

Essex, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl Of, Viscount Hereford, Lord Ferrers, Lord Bourchier

2005-02-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

Devereux

Burgos, José

2005-02-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

Burgos studied at San Juan de Letran College and the University of Santo Tomás in Manila, earning a doctorate of philosophy and a licentiate in canon law. His scholarship and

Yamato Takeru

2005-02-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

The legendary son of the legendary 12th emperor Keiko, Yamato Takeru was supposedly responsible for expanding the territory of the Yamato court. His story appears in the chronicles Kojiki (completed in 712) and Nihon Shoki (“Japanese Chronicles”; completed in 720). In the stories, he subdued two uncouth Kumaso warriors

Latin-faliscan Languages

2005-02-26T23:48:00.000-08:00

Language group proposed by some scholars to be included in the Italic branch of Indo-European languages. The group includes Latin, which emanated from Rome, and Faliscan, spoken in the Falerii district in southeastern Etruria. Closely related to Latin, Faliscan is known from a few short inscriptions written in the Etruscan alphabet. The other subdivision of Italic

1850, Compromise Of

2005-02-26T04:01:00.000-08:00

Series of compromise measures passed by the U.S. Congress in an effort to settle several outstanding slavery issues and to avert the threat of dissolution of the Union. The crisis arose from the request of the territory of California (Dec. 3, 1849) to be admitted to the Union with a constitution prohibiting slavery. The problem was complicated by the unresolved question of

Bloch, Felix

2005-02-25T03:45:00.000-08:00

Bloch's doctoral dissertation (University of Leipzig, 1928) promulgated a quantum theory of solids that provided the basis for understanding electrical

Zipper

2005-02-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

The idea of a slide fastener was exhibited by Whitcomb

Gandhara Art

2005-02-24T07:12:00.000-08:00

The Gandhara region

Mammal

2005-02-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

Any member of the class Mammalia, a group of vertebrate animals in which the young are nourished with milk from special secreting glands (mammae) of the mother. In addition to these characteristic milk glands, mammals are distinguished by several other unique features. Hair is a typical mammalian feature, although in many whales it has secondarily disappeared except

Ahmed Yesevi

2005-02-23T15:26:00.000-08:00

Very little is known about his life, but legends indicate that his father died when the boy was young and his family moved to Yasi, where

Ankara, Treaty Of

2005-02-22T17:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Franklin-Bouillon Agreement (Oct. 20, 1921), pact between the government of France and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey at Ankara, signed by the French diplomat Henri Franklin-Bouillon and Yusuf Kemal Bey, the Turkish nationalist foreign minister. It formalized the de facto recognition by France of the Grand National Assembly, rather than the government of the Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI, as the sovereign

Deere, John

2005-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

Apprenticed to a blacksmith at age 17, Deere set up his own smithy trade four years later and, for 12 years, did work in various towns of his native Vermont. In 1837, when 33 years old, he headed west and eventually settled in Grand Detour, Ill., where he set up a blacksmith's shop, and

Western Indian Bronze

2005-02-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

Important hoards have been discovered at Akota, near

Stagecoach

2005-02-21T00:32:00.000-08:00

Any public coach regularly travelling a fixed route between two or more stations (stages). Used in London at least by 1640, and about 20 years later in Paris, stagecoaches reached their greatest importance in England and the United States in the 19th century, where the new macadam roads made travel quicker and more comfortable. In the United States, coaches were the only means

Chandler

2005-02-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

City, Maricopa county, south-central Arizona, U.S. Founded in the 1890s, the city was named for veterinarian and real-estate developer A.J. Chandler, who built an extensive agricultural canal system in the area. Chandler is a winter resort in a cotton, alfalfa, citrus fruit, pecan, sugar beet, and cattle-raising region of the irrigated Salt River valley. The city emerged in the late

South Africa

2005-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of South Africa, formerly Union of South Africa, the southernmost country on the African continent. It has an area of 470,693 square miles (1,219,090 square kilometres). It measures almost 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) from north to south, as well as from east to west. South Africa is bordered by Namibia to the northwest, by Botswana and Zimbabwe to the north, and by Mozambique and Swaziland to the northeast and east. Lesotho, an independent constitutional

Peregrinus Proteus

2005-02-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

Suspected of murdering his father, Peregrinus was forced to flee to Palestine, but his influence in the Christian community there led to his arrest. On his release he left Palestine and became estranged from the Christians.

Wang Yang-ming

2005-02-19T02:43:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wang Yangming , original name (Wade–Giles romanization) Wang Shou-jen , literary name Pe-an , canonized as Wen-ch'eng , Japanese Oyo-mei Chinese scholar-official whose Idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. Though his government career was rather unstable, his suppression of rebellions brought a century of peace to his region. His philosophical doctrines, emphasizing understanding

Powhatan

2005-02-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

Powhatan was the son of an Algonkin chief whose tribe had migrated to Virginia during the 16th century. His father had vanquished five of the resident tribes and established a six-tribe confederacy. After Powhatan succeeded his father, he brought two dozen other tribes into the confederacy; at the peak

Earth Sciences, Geologic sciences

2005-02-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

The development of the geologic sciences in the 20th century has been influenced by two major “revolutions.” The first involves dramatic technological advances that have resulted in vastly improved instrumentation, the prime examples being the many types of highly sophisticated computerized devices. The second is centred on the development of the plate tectonics

Amory, Cleveland

2005-02-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

American writer and animal rights advocate (b. Sept. 2, 1917, Nahant, Mass.--d. Oct. 14, 1998, New York, N.Y.), was the author of a number of best-selling books and founder (1967) of the Fund for Animals, a New York-based animal-protection agency, which he served as unpaid president for 31 years. Amory's writing career began in his senior year in college when he became president of the Harvard Crimson. He graduated

Dependent States

2005-02-17T05:24:00.000-08:00

There was a focus on the French Pacific territories in 2003, with French Pres. Jacques Chirac's first visit to the region and constitutional changes that would increase French Polynesia's representation in the French Senate and open the way to greater autonomy. In July Chirac met Pacific islands leaders in Papeete, on

Nervous System, Human, Reciprocal innervation

2005-02-16T02:12:00.000-08:00

Any cold, hot, or noxious stimulus striking the skin of the foot contracts the flexor muscle of that limb, relaxes the extensor muscles of the same limb, and extends the opposite limb. The purpose of these movements is to remove one limb from harm while shifting weight to the opposite limb. That is the first and immediate response, but a slower and longer-lasting reflex

Alaric Ii

2005-02-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

His dominions comprised Spain (except the kingdom of Galicia), Aquitaine, Languedoc, and western Provence. Alaric, like his father, was an Arian Christian, but he mitigated the persecution of Catholics and authorized the Catholic council at Agde in 506. To provide a law code for his Roman subjects, he appointed a

Vieques Island

2005-02-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla de Vieques island and municipio (“municipality”), Puerto Rico. It lies 13 miles (21 km) east of the main island, fronting south on the Caribbean Sea and north on the Vieques Sound, which connects the Caribbean with the Atlantic Ocean. Composed mostly of volcanic and granite intrusives, the generally hilly island is 21 miles (34 km) long and 3 miles (5 km) wide, and it is 52 square miles (135 square km) in area. Isabel

Sea Lake

2005-02-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

Located on the Calder Highway and a rail line running southeast to Melbourne (195 miles [314 km] southeast),

Irigaray, Luce

2005-02-14T14:35:00.000-08:00

Irigaray was a member of the Freudian School of Paris, founded by Jacques Lacan, and taught at the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes from 1968 until she was dismissed in 1974 because of her doctoral thesis. Entitled Speculum de l'autre femme (Speculum

Hawkwood, Sir John

2005-02-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

The son of a tanner, Hawkwood chose a soldier's career, serving in the French wars of Edward III, who probably bestowed a knighthood on him. After the Treaty of Brétigny temporarily ended Anglo-French hostilities (1360), Hawkwood became the leader

Furniture, Fabrics

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

The use of fabrics in furnishing rooms is closely bound up with the need for heating. In the primitively heated rooms of the Middle Ages, textiles were used to keep out cold and drafts. In 12th- and 13th-century churches, painted textile drapery can still be discerned beneath the picture friezes. In rather cold churches, just as in poorly heated homes, loosely hung textile

Seljuq

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

During the 10th-century migrations of the Turkish peoples from Central Asia and southeast Russia,

Handball

2005-02-11T11:50:00.000-08:00

Any of a family of games played in walled courts or against a single wall, with a small rubber ball that is struck with hand or fist against the wall. The object is to cause the ball to rebound with variations of power or speed and at such an angle that the opposition cannot return it. There are three versions of handball: four-wall, three-wall, and one-wall. Each may be played

Contract Bridge

2005-02-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

In 1994 bridge playing and exchanges of information about the game via computerized networks expanded rapidly. Many professionals began using the networks for coaching clients and for gaining match practice with other pros. Duplicate tournaments were open to all. The 1994 NEC world bridge championships were held in Albuquerque, N.M., from September 17 to October 1, and the tournament's

Nixon, Pat

2005-02-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

Richard Nixon was forced to resign as president for his involvement in the Watergate affair, and on August 9, 1974, the Nixons retired, first to California and then to New Jersey. She died of lung cancer in 1993 at her New Jersey home and was buried at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California.

Sea Horse

2005-02-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

Any of a number of species of small marine fishes of the family Syngnathidae (order Gasterosteiformes), found in warm seas. Sea horses are familiar animals, with their consecutive rings of body armour, their forward-curled, prehensile tails, and their “horsey” heads set at an angle to their bodies. They also have long, tubular snouts, small mouths, a

Iacchus

2005-02-09T23:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Iakchos, minor deity associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, the best known of the ancient Greek mystery religions. On the day preceding the commencement of the mysteries, Iacchus' name was invoked with the names of the earth goddess Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone) during the procession from Athens to Eleusis, a city in Attica. Probably originally a personification

Alliance

2005-02-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

In international relations, a formal agreement between two or more states for mutual support in case of war. Contemporary alliances provide for combined action on the part of two or more independent states and are generally defensive in nature, obligating allies to join forces if one or more of them is attacked by another state or coalition. Although alliances

Lock Haven

2005-02-08T23:24:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1839) of Clinton county, north-central Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies along the West Branch Susquehanna River (a major tributary of the Susquehanna), on the southern slope of Bald Eagle Mountain, 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Williamsport. Founded in 1834 by Jeremiah Church, a land speculator, it was laid out on the site of the frontier post, Fort Reed, and developed as a lumbering centre.

Contractile Vacuole

2005-02-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

Regulatory organelle, usually spherical, found in freshwater protozoa and lower metazoans, such as sponges and hydras, that collects excess fluid from the protoplasm and periodically empties it into the surrounding medium. It may also excrete nitrogenous wastes. In amoebas it changes position with the animal's movement; in most ciliates it follows a definite

Epistemology, The nature of knowledge

2005-02-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

As indicated above, one of the basic questions of epistemology concerns the nature of knowledge. Philosophers normally interpret this query as a conceptual question, i.e., as an issue about a certain conception or idea or notion called knowledge. The question raises a perplexing methodological issue, namely, how does one go about investigating such conceptual questions?