DryRod

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

2005-04-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

Shelley was the heir to rich estates acquired by his grandfather, Bysshe (pronounced “Bish”) Shelley.

Essex

2005-04-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Administrative, geographic, and historic county of eastern England, extending along the North Sea coastline between the Thames and Stour estuaries. The administrative county covers an area within the larger geographic county, which in turn covers a part of the original historic county of Essex. The administrative county comprises 12 districts: Basildon, Braintree

Alecsandri, Vasile

2005-04-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

His lyrical poems,

Akh

2005-04-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

In Egyptian religion, the spirit of a deceased person and, with the ka and ba (qq.v.), a principal aspect of the soul. By enabling the soul to assume temporarily any form it desired, for the purpose of revisiting the earth or for its own enjoyment, the akh characterized the soul of a deceased person as an effective entity in the next world. The akh-soul was generally represented

Sung Dynasty

2005-04-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Sung dynasty was founded when Chao K'uang-yin, the military inspector general of the Chou dynasty, last of the Five Dynasties, usurped control of the empire in a coup. Thereafter, he used his mastery of diplomatic maneuvering to persuade powerful potential

Alaungpaya

2005-04-02T00:35:00.000-08:00

Of humble origins, Alaungpaya was a village headman from the

Ear, Human, Tuning-fork tests

2005-04-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

In the Rinne test the sounding tuning fork is placed on the mastoid process, and the person

Blondin

2005-04-01T03:26:00.000-08:00

When he was five years old he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon, and after six months' training as an acrobat he made his first public appearance as “the Little

Abbas, Mahmoud

2005-03-31T05:45:00.000-08:00

After months of intense international pressure, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, was installed as Palestinian prime minister on April 30, 2003. As a condition for pursuing their road map to peace, the quartet (U.S., European Union, Russia, and UN) had insisted on the appointment of a prime minister with wide powers in a move to circumvent Palestinian Pres. Yasir Arafat, who

Literature

2005-03-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

The predominant theme of 2001 was literature that chronicled the ordeals of political prisoners in a number of Arab countries. Works defined as “prison literature” were authored by freed political prisoners motivated to speak out by the relative freedom in the past two years in their countries. Writing in French,

Furniture, Italy

2005-03-30T08:11:00.000-08:00

Though it was in Italian architecture, painting, and sculpture that the Baroque style was evolved, Italy was not the first to apply this style to furniture. But by the mid-17th century Italy was producing flamboyantly carved, painted, and gilded furniture, decorated with such typical motifs as cupids, acanthus, shells, and boldly drawn scrolls, and was further enriching

Biblical Literature, Legislation

2005-03-30T06:45:00.000-08:00

The book of Exodus includes not only the narrative and celebration of God's redemptive action in the Exodus and wanderings and his revealing presence at Mt. Sinai but also a corpus of legislation, both civil and religious, that is ascribed to God and this revelation event. The Covenant Code, or Book of the Covenant, presented in chapters 20–23, immediately following the Decalogue

Brabant

2005-03-28T23:39:00.000-08:00

The remnant of the duchy of Lower Lorraine was

Novikov, Sergey Petrovich

2005-03-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

Novikov graduated from Moscow State University in 1960 and received Ph.D. (1964) and Doctor of Science (1965) degrees from the V.A. Steklov Institute of Mathematics in Moscow. He joined the faculty at Moscow in 1964 and became

Ireland

2005-03-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

Political life in Ireland was dominated during 1998 by attempts to resolve the conflict in Northern Ireland. The resolution eventually took place on a global scale, with the direct involvement of three governments--Ireland, the United

Icaza, Jorge

2005-03-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

Icaza started writing for the theatre, but when he was censured for a 1933 dramatic script, El dictador, he turned his attention, and his indignation,

Lord

2005-03-26T09:10:00.000-08:00

In the British Isles, a general title for a prince or sovereign or for a feudal superior (especially a feudal tenant who holds directly from the king, i.e., a baron). In the United Kingdom the title today denotes a peer of the realm, whether or not he sits in Parliament as a member of the House of Lords. Before the Hanoverian succession, before the use of “prince” became settled

Alkali Feldspar

2005-03-26T02:53:00.000-08:00

Any of several common silicate minerals that often occur as variously coloured, glassy crystals. They are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics; transparent, highly coloured, or iridescent varieties are sometimes used as gemstones. The alkali feldspars are primarily important as constituents of rocks; they are very widespread and abundant in alkali and

Epictetus

2005-03-24T14:06:00.000-08:00

Epictetus is most frequently mentioned in connection with a series of medallions on plates in the British Museum in London and the Cabinet des Médailles in Paris. The medallion paintings

Lord

2005-03-24T02:30:00.000-08:00

Any of five species of African rodents characterized by cheek pouches that are used for carrying food back to their burrows, where it is eaten or stored. All are terrestrial and have gray to brown coats with white or gray underparts, but the three genera differ in size, behaviour, and geographic distribution. The smaller species are sometimes

Port Elizabeth

2005-03-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Port city, Eastern province, South Africa. It lies on Algoa Bay of the Indian Ocean. Port Elizabeth was established in 1820 as a British settlement around Fort Frederick (1799), the oldest British building in southern Africa, and was named by Sir Rufane Donkin, the acting governor of the Cape Colony, for his deceased wife, Lady Elizabeth. Completion of the Kimberley Railroad (1873) spurred

Spain, Society

2005-03-23T08:03:00.000-08:00

In discussing the influx of the Muslims into Spain, the various social groups into which the population was divided have already been pointed out: Arabs (baladiyyun and Syrians), Berbers, muwallads, Mozarabs, Jews, and slaves. The Muslim population continued to increase during the early centuries of the occupation because of the wave of conversions that markedly reduced

Tigré Language

2005-03-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

Semitic language of the Tigre people of northwestern Eritrea and smaller areas of neighbouring Sudan. It is closely related to the ancient Ge'ez language and modern Tigrinya. A few religious texts prepared by mission societies are the only documents in the language. Tigré serves as a second language for many nearby Cushitic and Nilotic peoples. There were more

Arnim, Harry, Graf (count) Von

2005-03-22T00:56:00.000-08:00

After studying

Musical Sound, Aerophones

2005-03-22T00:29:00.000-08:00

Brass instruments consist of a long tube whose cross section is proportionately small. Coupled with a mouthpiece that,

Computers, The hobby market expands

2005-03-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

Some entrepreneurs, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area, saw opportunities to build add-on devices, or peripherals, for the Altair; others decided to design competitive hardware products. Because different machines might use different data paths, or buses, peripherals built for one computer might not work with another computer. This led the emerging industry

Arabian Religion

2005-03-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

Beliefs of Arabia comprising the polytheistic beliefs and practices that existed before the rise of Islam in the 7th century AD. Arabia is here understood in the broad sense of the term to include the confines of the Syrian desert. The religion of Palmyra, which belongs to the Aramaic sphere, is excluded from this account. The monotheistic religions that had already spread

Macchiaioli

2005-03-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

Group of 19th-century Florentine and Neopolitan painters who reacted against the rule-bound Italian academies of art and looked to nature for instruction. The Macchiaioli felt that patches (Italian: macchia) of colour were the most significant aspect of painting. They believed that the effect of a painting on the spectator should derive from the painted

Hindi Language

2005-03-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

Official language of the Republic of India, a central Indo-Aryan language claimed as a mother tongue by some 180,000,000 speakers in India. There are also significant numbers of Hindi speakers outside of India, including nearly 1,000,000 in South Africa, 700,000 in Mauritius, 350,000 in Bangladesh, 235,000 in Yemen, and 150,000 in Uganda. Many more hundreds of thousands speak Hindi as a second language. Literary Hindi, written

Eakins, Thomas

2005-03-19T03:39:00.000-08:00

In 1875 Eakins, who had yet to become well known, decided to paint a major picture for the Centennial Exposition to be held in Philadelphia the following year. He took as his subject a scene that had become familiar to him—Samuel Gross of Jefferson Medical College operating in his clinic before his students. Gross was a magnetic teacher and one of the country's greatest surgeons.

Aeon

2005-03-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

The first aeon was said to emanate directly

Smith, Sir Harry (george Wakelyn), Baronet

2005-03-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

Smith began his career in the army as an ensign in 1805 and served with distinction in South America (1807) and, during the Napoleonic Wars, in Spain (1808–14). In the War of 1812 Smith was with the British forces that captured and burned Washington, D.C. He returned to

Andean Peoples

2005-03-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

Studies of the pre-Columbian history and culture of this area may be found in the bibliography of the article pre-Columbian civilizations. The best account of Andean cultures as they appeared to an eyewitness of the early years (16th century) of European rule is Pedro de Cieza de León, The Incas (1959, reissued 1969; originally published in Spanish, 1554). An introduction to Andean archaeology may be found in John Howland Rowe and Dorothy Menzel (eds.), Peruvian Archaeology (1967), with selections mainly by American scholars. The role of irrigation in the cultural and political elaboration of coastal kingdoms is well illustrated in Paul Kosok, Life, Land, and Water in Ancient Peru (1965). Special regional problems are introduced in Louis C. Faron, Mapuche Social Structure (1961), a study of the reintegration of these people of Chile since the time of conquest; L.C. Faron, Hawks of the Sun (1964), on the Southern Andes; Betty J. Meggers, Ecuador (1966); Donald W. Lathrap, The Upper Amazon (1970); Paul T. Baker and Michael A. Little (eds.), Man in the Andes: A Multidisciplinary Study of High-Altitude Quechua (1976); Kevin Kling, Ecuador: Island of the Andes (1988; originally published in French, 1987), focusing on Indian culture and life and illustrated with photographs; and Steve J. Stern, Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest: Huamanga to 1640, 2nd ed. (1993).

Ulan-ude

2005-03-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

The city's development was greatly stimulated when the Trans-Siberian

Pietrasanta

2005-03-16T23:27:00.000-08:00

Town, centre of a district known as Versilia, Lucca provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy, at the foot of the Alpi Apuane (mountains) just southeast of Carrara. Its piazza is surrounded by fine buildings including the Cathedral of San Martino and the Church of San Agostino (a baptistery with a medieval font), both dating from the 14th century, and the remains of

National Action Bloc

2005-03-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

The National Action Bloc attracted young, educated Moroccans of many different views. Informally in existence since 1930, under the leadership of such notable figures

Vienne, Council Of

2005-03-16T03:41:00.000-08:00

15th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic church (1311–12), convoked by Pope Clement V at the insistence of Philip IV of France, who demanded the posthumous trial of Pope Boniface VIII and the suppression of the Knights Templars, one of the great military religious orders founded during the Crusades. Vienne, near Lyon, was chosen because it was easily accessible and because

Hamasah

2005-03-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

The anthology consists of 10 books, containing,

Hardecanute

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

Son of King Canute and Emma, daughter of Richard I, duke of Normandy, Hardecanute was made king of Denmark by Canute in 1028. On Canute's death in 1035, a party led by Emma and Godwine, earl of Wessex, wished to elect Hardecanute king of England, but Leofric, earl of Mercia, with

Ch'ungch'ong, South

2005-03-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

With one-third of its land area under cultivation, South Ch'ungch'ong is one of the best granaries in the country, producing rice, ginseng, tobacco, and peppermint.

Mexico, History Of

2005-03-13T11:03:00.000-08:00

Diego Velázquez, governor of Cuba, laid the foundation for the conquest of Mexico. In 1517 and 1518 Velázquez sent out expeditions headed by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Juan de Grijalva that explored the coasts of Yucatán and the Mexican Gulf. Velázquez commissioned Hernán Cortés to outfit an expedition to investigate their tales of great wealth in the area. Spending

Lenox

2005-03-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Berkshire county, western Massachusetts, U.S. It lies in the Berkshire Hills, just south of Pittsfield. Settled about 1750 and originally called Yokuntown, it was set off from Richmond in 1767 and was probably named for Charles Lennox, 3rd duke of Richmond and a defender of colonial rights. Early industries included an iron foundry, a marble works, and a glass factory.

Craigavon

2005-03-12T04:02:00.000-08:00

New town (built after 1966), Craigavon district, Northern Ireland, southwest of Belfast. Craigavon new town was developed under the New Towns Act of 1965 as a commercial, light industrial, and residential centre linking the older towns of Lurgan and Portadown. It was named after James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, the first prime minister (1921–40) of Northern Ireland. The new town's planning

Dies Irae

2005-03-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

The hymn ascribed to Thomas of Celano contains 18 rhymed stanzas (17 tercets, 1 quatrain), to which a later, anonymous writer added an unrhymed couplet, ending in “Amen.” The impressive plainsong melody to which the

Chiang-men

2005-03-11T06:19:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Jiangmen, also called Kongmoon, city in central Kwangtung sheng (province), China. The city is situated on the west bank of the main channel of the Hsi River, at the southwest corner of the Canton Delta, some 45 miles (70 km) from Canton. It has excellent waterway communications and is the chief collecting centre and agricultural market for the coastal region west of Canton. Chiang-men was opened as a treaty

Scharnhorst

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

German battle cruiser completed in 1939. It did great damage to Allied shipping in northern waters during World War II before it was sunk by the British battleship “Duke of York” on Dec. 26, 1943. The “Scharnhorst” was a heavily armed ship of 26,000 tons standard displacement, carrying a 1,400 man crew and four aircraft and armed with nine 11-inch, twelve 5.9-inch, and fourteen 4.1-inch guns and sixteen 37-millimetre

Nation, Carry

2005-03-09T14:23:00.000-08:00

Carry Moore as a child experienced poverty, her mother's mental instability, and frequent bouts of ill health. Although she held a teaching certificate from a state normal school, her education was intermittent. In 1867 she married a young physician,

Eye, Human, The aqueous humour

2005-03-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

The aqueous humour is a clear colourless fluid with a chemical composition rather similar to that of blood plasma (the blood exclusive of its cells) but lacking the high protein content of the latter. Its main function is to keep the globe reasonably firm. It is secreted continuously by the ciliary body into the posterior chamber, and flows as a gentle stream through

Dominic, Saint

2005-03-09T05:03:00.000-08:00

Spanish in full Santo Domingo De Guzmán founder of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans), a religious order of mendicant friars with a universal mission of preaching, a centralized organization and government, and a great emphasis on scholarship.

Kamenev, Lev Borisovich

2005-03-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

Born to middle-class parents who themselves had been involved in the Russian

Enciclopedia Italiana Di Scienze, Lettere Ed Arti

2005-03-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

The Enciclopedia italiana contains many excellent lengthy articles, usually

Scandinavian Literature, Romantic Realism

2005-03-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

New elements of reason and realism appeared after the first quarter of the century in the works of Poul Møller, who wrote the first Danish novel on contemporary life, En dansk students eventyr (1824; “The Adventures of a Danish Student”), and dramatic poems and fables, sometimes showing personal disillusionment, and of Steen Steensen Blicher, who in Traekfuglene (1838; “The Birds

Hoisin Sauce

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

Commercially prepared, thick reddish-brown sauce used in Chinese cuisine both as an ingredient in cooking and as a table condiment. Made from soybeans, flour, sugar, water, spices, garlic, and chili, it is sweet and spicy. It is used in cooking shellfish and fatty meats such as pork and duck. As a condiment, hoisin sauce is eaten with shrimp, pork, and poultry and is invariably

Metallophone

2005-03-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

China had such instruments by the 7th century. Metallophones had reached northern Europe from Indonesia

Mason, Daniel Gregory

2005-03-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Mason was the grandson of the music publisher and educator Lowell Mason and the son of Henry Mason, a founder of the Mason & Hamlin Co. piano firm. He studied with John K. Paine at Harvard and with Vincent d'Indy in Paris. From 1910 to 1942 he taught at Columbia University. His music

Iberville

2005-03-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

Town, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada, on the east bank of the Richelieu River, opposite Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Originally called Christieville, it was renamed in 1854 for the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. The town is a rail and highway hub and a residential district of Saint-Jean. Economic activities include woodworking, dairying,

Mountain Goat

2005-03-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Rocky Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), North American ruminant, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). Mountain goats occur from the Yukon to the northern U.S. Rockies. Although goatlike, they are more closely related to antelopes than to true goats. Stocky, and with a slight hump at the withers, mountain goats stand about 1 m (39 inches) at the shoulder. Members of both sexes

Saarinen, Eero

2005-03-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

Eero was the son of the noted architect Eliel Saarinen and Loja Gesellius, a sculptor. The Saarinen family of four, including a sister, Eva-Lisa, moved to the United States in 1923. Eero attended public schools in Michigan. In 1929 he studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris but, as he recounted years later, “it never occurred to me to do anything but follow

Fuse

2005-03-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

In electrical engineering, a safety device that protects electrical circuits from the effects of excessive currents. A fuse commonly consists of a current-conducting strip or wire of easily fusible metal that melts, and thus interrupts the circuit of which it is a part, whenever that circuit is made to carry a current larger than that for which it is intended. The

Ecoterrorism

2005-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Ecoterrorism

Koch, Robert

2005-03-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

In full Robert Heinrich Hermann Koch German physician and one of the founders of bacteriology. He discovered the anthrax disease cycle (1876) and the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis (1882) and cholera (1883). For his discoveries in regard to tuberculosis, he received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1905.

Brendan, Saint

2005-03-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

Brendan also spelled Brandon, or Brandan, also called Brendan of Clonfert, Brendan the Voyager, or Brendan the Navigator, Gaelic Brénaind Celtic saint, monastic founder, abbot, and hero of legendary voyages in the Atlantic Ocean. Reputedly raised and educated by Abbess St. Ita at her boys' school in what later became County Limerick, he later studied under Abbot St. Jarlath of Tuam. After becoming a monk and priest, he was entrusted with

Baseball

2005-03-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Pocket-billiards game, named for the similarity in its scoring system to the American game played with bat and ball, in which players attempt to score runs by pocketing 21 consecutively numbered object balls, the number of runs scored corresponding to the total of the numbers on the balls pocketed. Players are allowed nine innings, in each of which they play until they

Japanese Baseball Leagues

2005-03-02T01:09:00.000-08:00

The two main leagues in Japan are the Central League and the Pacific League. Each league is composed

United States, Madison as president and the War of 1812

2005-03-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

In historical retrospect, the most important aspect of the peace settlement was an agreement to set up a boundary commission for the Canadian border, which could thenceforth be left unguarded. It was not the end of Anglo-American hostility, but the agreement marked the advent of an era of mutual trust. The conclusion of the War of 1812, which has sometimes been called the Second War of American Independence, marked a historical cycle. It resulted in a pacification of the old feelings of pain and resentment against Great Britain and her people—still for many Americans a kind of paternal relationship. And, by freeing them of anxieties on this front, it also freed Americans to look to the west.

Mafic Rock

2005-02-28T23:25:00.000-08:00

In geology, igneous rock that is dominated by the silicates pyroxene, amphibole, olivine, and mica. These minerals are high in magnesium and ferric oxides, and their presence gives mafic rock its characteristic dark colour. Mafic rock is commonly contrasted with felsic rock, in which light-coloured minerals predominate. Common mafic rocks include basalt and its

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

2005-02-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

In the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of Renaissance philosophy, the claims of Aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians, and, in the same century, the role of observation was stressed. One mildly skeptical Christian thinker, Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical

Halfmoon

2005-02-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

(Medialuna californiensis), edible Pacific fish of the family Kyphosidae (order Perciformes). Some authorities place it in the subfamily Scorpidinae, as distinct from the other Kyphosidae, which are known as sea chubs. Halfmoons are bluish gray in colour, with dark gray fins. They normally reach a length of about 30 centimetres (1 foot). They inhabit Pacific coastal areas

Amalthea

2005-02-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

Small, inner satellite of Jupiter discovered in 1892 by the American astronomer E.E. Barnard. It circles Jupiter once every 11 h 57 min at a distance of 181,000 km (112,220 miles) in a nearly circular, uninclined orbit. Photographs transmitted by the U.S. probes Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1979 show that Amalthea is an irregular body measuring 270 ´ 166 ´ 150 km (167 ´ 103 ´ 93 miles); the long axis always points toward Jupiter. Amalthea has a very

Cumberland Sound

2005-02-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

Inlet (170 miles [270 km] long, 100 miles [160 km] wide) of Davis Strait and the Atlantic Ocean, indenting the southeast coast of Baffin Island, in southeastern Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. John Davis, an English navigator, sailed into the sound in 1585 in search of the Northwest Passage. Blacklead Island, within the sound, was a noted whaling station by the late 19th century. The Anglican

Giovanni, Nikki

2005-02-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

Giovanni grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Knoxville, Tenn., and in 1960 she entered Nashville's Fisk University. By 1967, when she received her B.A., she was firmly committed to the Civil Rights Movement and the concept of

Henne Am Rhyn, Otto

2005-02-25T04:02:00.000-08:00

After studying at the Swiss universities of Bern and Geneva, he taught German, geography, and history at the local school

Arab Fund For Economic And Social Development

2005-02-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

By financing development projects, the fund encourages investment of public and private capital in Arab economies. It grants loans on easy terms to

Einsteinium

2005-02-24T02:06:00.000-08:00

(Es), synthetic chemical element of the actinide series in Group IIIb of the periodic table, atomic number 99. Not occurring in nature, einsteinium (as the isotope einsteinium-253), produced by intense neutron irradiation of uranium-238, was identified in December 1952 by Albert Ghiorso and co-workers at Berkeley, Calif., in debris taken from the first thermonuclear or hydrogen-bomb

Tasmania

2005-02-23T15:44:00.000-08:00

J.L. Davies (ed.), Atlas of Tasmania (1965), offers comprehensive map coverage with detailed commentary. The Tasmanian Year Book (biennial) is the most comprehensive single reference. C.F. Burrett and E.L. Martin (eds.), Geology and Mineral Resources of Tasmania (1989), is also useful. Margaret Stones and Winifred Curtis, The Endemic Flora of Tasmania, 6 pt. (1967–76), is a definitive study, beautifully illustrated. W.A. Townsley, The Government of Tasmania (1976), is a good political guide. The great 19th-century history is by John West, The History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (1852, reissued in 1 vol., 1971); its successor is by Lloyd Robson, A History of Tasmania, 2 vol. (1983–91), who has also written A Short History of Tasmania (1985). Outstanding historical monographs include Peter Bolger, Hobart Town (1973); Geoffrey Blainey, The Peaks of Lyell, 4th ed. (1978), on copper mining; and Marilyn Lake, A Divided Society: Tasmania During World War I (1975). P. Conrad, Down Home: Revisiting Tasmania (1988, also published as Behind the Mountain: Return to Tasmania, 1989), is an account by an intellectual aghast at the oddities of his native spot.

Arfvedsonite

2005-02-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

Amphibole mineral, an iron-rich sodium silicate. Lithium and magnesium replace iron in the structure to form eckermannite. Both minerals characteristically occur as dark-green crystals in alkali igneous rocks and their associated pegmatites. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see amphibole (table).

Bur Oak

2005-02-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Burr Oak, also called Mossy Cup Oak (Quercus macrocarpa), North American timber tree belonging to the white oak group of the genus Quercus in the beech family (Fagaceae), distributed primarily throughout the central United States. Often 25 metres (80 feet) tall, the tree may reach 50 m. Its leaves, about 25 centimetres (10 inches) long, are dark green and shiny above, dull and whitish beneath; the wide upper half of each leaf

Jakarta, The city layout

2005-02-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

Although the Dutch were the first to attempt to plan the city, the city layout is probably more British than Dutch in character, as can be seen from such large squares as the Medan Merdeka (“Freedom Field”) and Lapangan Banteng (meaning “place of the gaur [large wild ox]”). The Oriental style, or “indische” style, as the Dutch call it, is apparent not only in the city's way of life but

Pier

2005-02-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

In building construction, vertical loadbearing member such as an intermediate support for adjacent ends of two bridge spans. In foundations for large buildings, piers are usually cylindrical concrete shafts, cast in prepared holes, while in bridges they take the form of caissons, which are sunk into position. Piers serve the same purpose as piles but are not installed

'abdullah I

2005-02-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

'Abdullah, the second son of Husayn ibn 'Ali, the ruler of the Hejaz, was educated in Istanbul in what was then the Ottoman Empire. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, he represented Mecca in the Ottoman parliament. Early in 1914 he joined the Arab nationalist movement, which sought independence

Gaillard, Château

2005-02-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

(French: “Saucy Castle”), 12th-century castle built by Richard the Lion-Heart on the Andelys cliff overlooking the Seine River in France; substantial portions of it still stand. Château Gaillard, the strongest castle of its age, guarded the Seine River valley approach to Normandy. Skillfully designed and executed, with the base of the keep carved out of the natural

Abu Rishah, 'umar

2005-02-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

Abu Rishah attended the University of Damascus in Syria, the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and the University of Manchester, England. He was an early contributor to the influential Egyptian literary

World Water Crisis: Is There A Way Out?

2005-02-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

In 1995 Swedish hydrologist Malin Falkenmark made a revolutionary contribution to hydrologic studies by distinguishing blue water, by which she meant all precipitation that contributes to stream runoff and groundwater and is readily withdrawn for human use, from green water, which is all precipitation that is transpired by vegetation or evaporated from the soil

Mesopotamia, History Of, Shalmaneser III and Shamshi-Adad V of Assyria

2005-02-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

The son and successor of Ashurnasirpal was Shalmaneser III (858–824). His father's equal in both brutality and energy, he was less realistic in his undertakings. His inscriptions, in a peculiar blend of Assyrian and Babylonian, record his considerable achievements but are not always able to conceal his failures. His campaigns were directed mostly against Syria. While he was

Furnivall, Frederick James

2005-02-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

English literary scholar who, partly by his own efforts in textual criticism and partly by founding learned societies, especially the Early English Text Society, was instrumental in initiating a major revival in the study of medieval English literature. Though he first studied law and was called to the bar in 1849, he came to divide his

Drang Nach Osten

2005-02-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

The medieval Drang nach Osten was part

Anthesteria

2005-02-17T20:20:00.000-08:00

One of the several Athenian festivals in honour of Dionysus, the wine god, held annually for three days in the month of Anthesterion (February–March) to celebrate the beginning of spring and the maturing of the wine stored at the previous vintage. On the first day libations were offered to Dionysus from the newly opened casks. The second day was a time of popular merrymaking,

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

2005-02-17T10:48:00.000-08:00

Ausonius taught in the famous schools of Burdigala (now Bordeaux, Fr.), first as a grammarian and then as a rhetorician, so successfully that Valentinian I called him to Trier to tutor Gratian, who, on his

Tibet, Education

2005-02-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

There were a few secular schools in Tibet before the Chinese established control. The monasteries were the main seats of learning, and some of the larger ones were similar in operation to theological universities. Secular facilities were established in the 1950s, including government-run primary schools, community primary schools, and secondary technical and tertiary

China, The armed forces

2005-02-15T00:47:00.000-08:00

The command of the armed forces was also arranged so as to avoid giving excessive powers to a single individual. General officers were usually appointed in pairs, and, in times of emergency or when a campaign was being planned with a defined objective, officers were appointed for a specific task; when their mission was fulfilled, their commands were brought to a close.

Hachioji

2005-02-14T23:07:00.000-08:00

After

Vaccine

2005-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

A vaccine can confer active immunity against a specific harmful agent by stimulating the immune system to attack the agent. Once stimulated by a vaccine, the antibody-producing cells, called B lymphocytes,

Mammal, Importance to humans

2005-02-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Wild and domesticated mammals are so interlocked with our political and social history that it is impractical to attempt to assess the relationship in precise economic terms. Throughout our own evolution, for example, humans have been dependent on other mammals for food and clothing. Domestication of mammals helped to provide a source of protein for ever-increasing

Amoy

2005-02-13T01:03:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsia-men, Pinyin Xiamen, city and port on the coast of southern Fukien sheng (province), China. Amoy is situated on the southwest coast of Hsia-men Island at the mouth of the Chiu-lung River. Known as the “garden on the sea,” it has an excellent harbour, sheltered by a number of offshore islands, the most important of which, Quemoy (Chin-men), in the mouth of the estuary, has remained a fortress in the hands

Metamorphic Rock, Amphibolite facies

2005-02-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

The amphibolite facies is the common high-grade facies of regional metamorphism, and, like the greenschist facies, such rocks are present in all ages from all over the world. Their characteristic feature is the development of the most common amphibole, hornblende, in the presence of a plagioclase feldspar and garnet. The rocks are normally highly foliated or schistose.

Fungus

2005-02-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

The origin of the fungi is obscure, the fossil record being scanty and virtually meaningless. The older theory supposed the fungi to have originated by loss of chlorophyll from one or two groups of algae, one school favouring the development of the fungi monophyletically (i.e., from a single ancestor) from the green algae, the other postulating that the lower fungi originated

Interior Lowlands

2005-02-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

The broad, generally flat areas of the central part of the North American continent. The name is used in regional geologic and physiographic descriptions of North America and the conterminous United States. From the tectonic view, the continental Interior Lowlands are areas largely undisturbed by mountain building in past geologic time. They extend from central

Eadric Streona

2005-02-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Eadric's origins. His appointment to the office of ealdorman was probably an attempt by Ethelred to unite south-central England under one command. He is generally considered

Nagaon

2005-02-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area encompasses a stretch of the Brahmaputra River valley and contains many

Pappus Of Alexandria

2005-02-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

The most important mathematical author writing in Greek during the later Roman Empire, known for his Synagoge (“Collection”), a voluminous account of the most important work done in ancient Greek mathematics. Other than that he was born at Alexandria in Egypt and that his career coincided with the first three decades of the 4th century AD, little is known about his life.