FlatSquare

China, Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and Sung periods

2005-04-05T21:52:00.000-07:00

Further general information is available in the following: Edward A. Kracke, Jr., Civil Service in Early Sung China, 960–1067 (1953), a monumental work; James T.C. Liu, Ou-yang Hsiu, an Eleventh-Century Neo-Confucianist, trans. from the Chinese (1967), and Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih (1021–1086) and His New Policies (1959), both works attempting to relate general trends through historical figures; and Brian E. McKnight, Village and Bureaucracy in Southern Sung China (1971), an account coming down to the later period as well as the local scene. Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276 (1962; originally published in French, 1959), provides vivid descriptions. See also Patricia Buckley Ebrey (ed. and trans.), Family and Property in Sung China: Yüan Ts'ai's Precepts for Social Life (1984), an excellent picture of family relations as studied in the 12th-century work by Yüan Ts'ai; Thomas H.S. Lee, Government Education and Examinations in Sung China (1985), a description of education and its relationship to the civil service; and Brian E. McKnight (trans.), The Washing Away of Wrongs: Forensic Medicine in Thirteenth-Century China (1985), a translation of an early work on the topic.

Halepa, Pact Of

2005-04-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Also called Treaty Of Halepa, Halepa also spelled Khalépa, convention signed in October 1878 at Khalépa, a suburb of Canea, by which the Turkish sultan Abdülhamid II (ruled 1876–1909) granted a large degree of self-government to Greeks in Crete as a means to quell their insurrection against Turkish overlords. It supplemented previous concessions to the Cretans—e.g., the Organic Law Constitution (1868) and the Cyprus Convention (July 4, 1878), which had been

Barreto, Francisco

2005-04-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

Barreto served in the East Indies, was governor of Portuguese India, and was probably instrumental in exiling Luís de Camões to Macau after the poet had published criticisms of Portuguese administration in India. In 1569 Barreto was entrusted by King Sebastian of Portugal with an expedition to

Mind, Philosophy Of

2005-03-29T04:07:00.000-08:00

One attribute that sharply distinguishes man from the rest of nature is his highly developed capacity for thought, feeling, and deliberate action. Here and there in other animals, rudiments,

Córdoba

2005-03-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Provincia, central Argentina, with an area of 65,161 square miles (168,766 square km). From the Sierra Grande in the west, which rises to 9,462 feet (2,884 m), the land slopes eastward to the great Pampa grasslands, being drained by the Primero, Segundo, Tercero, Cuarto, and Quinto rivers. Only the Tercero reaches the Paraná River; the others terminate in swamps or in the saline Laguna Mar Chiquita in the

Tribology

2005-03-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

The study of the interaction of sliding surfaces. It includes three subjects: friction, wear, and lubrication (qq.v.). There is a difficulty in that friction is generally characterized as a branch of physics or mechanical engineering, wear is part of the material science of metallurgy, while lubrication is a branch of chemistry. Tribology is thus a complex interdisciplinary

O'neill, Eugene

2005-03-24T01:08:00.000-08:00

In full Eugene Gladstone O'Neill foremost American dramatist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936. His masterpiece, Long Day's Journey into Night (produced posthumously 1956), is at the apex of a long string of great plays, including Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), Strange Interlude (1928), Ah! Wilderness (1933), and The Iceman Cometh (1946).

French Literature, Experiments in theatre

2005-03-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

During the 1940s the theatre provided a forum for the veiled expression of political dilemmas through the dramatization of individual crises of conscience. The plays of Montherlant, Jean Anouilh, Giraudoux, and Sartre made this, surprisingly, an outstanding moment for the Parisian stage. A government policy to provide state financial aid after the war led to the encouragement

Ujung-kulon National Park

2005-03-20T01:43:00.000-08:00

English Point Kulon National Park

La Línea

2005-03-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

In full La Línea de la Concepción town, Cadiz provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, southwestern Spain. It lies along the Bay of Gibraltar, between San Roque and the British colony of Gibraltar. The name is derived from the línea, or boundary, dividing Spanish territory from the district of Gibraltar. The town processes fruit and vegetables for sale in Gibraltar,

Sea-urchin Cactus

2005-03-18T04:09:00.000-08:00

Any of the genus Echinopsis, family Cactaceae, about 30 species native to South America at medium elevations in desert shrublands or grasslands. Several species, but most especially the Easter lily cactus (E. multiplex), are valued for their ease of growth and large flowers on tubes up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) long. Most are hardy outdoors in Mediterranean

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

2005-03-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

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

Cane Furniture

2005-03-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

Furniture in which a mesh of split canes is stretched over parts of the framework, principally on the backs and seats of chairs. It was made in India as early as the 2nd century AD and was also known in China. Cane was imported into Europe by the East India Company, and cane furniture became fashionable in England and the Netherlands toward the end of the 17th century. It is particularly

Abaiang Atoll

2005-03-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Apaiang, also called Apia, formerly Charlotte Island, coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Comprising six islets in the northern Gilberts with a total land area of 6 square miles (16 square km), the atoll has a lagoon (16 by 5 miles [26 by 8 km]) that provides sheltered anchorage. Captain Thomas Gilbert, its European discoverer (1788), named it Matthew's Island, after the owner of his ship, the Charlotte.

Biblical Literature, The need for consolidation and delimitation

2005-03-13T23:48:00.000-08:00

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

Metalwork, Modern

2005-03-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

The structure of trade, following the drastic social changes that have taken place since 1914, is similar in all industrial countries. A few artist-craftsmen maintain independent studio workshops, producing commercially unprofitable but artistically significant work. Many of them also teach in art schools or work part-time in factories as industrial designers.

Ahom

2005-03-12T02:44:00.000-08:00

Tribe that ruled much of Assam from the 13th century until the establishment of British rule in 1838. Their power in Assam reached its peak during the reign of King Rudra Singh (1696–1714). They originated in the Chinese province of Yunnan and began migrating into Indochina and northern Myanmar (Burma) in the first centuries AD. Their original language is now extinct, and they speak Assamese.

Heidelberg Catechism

2005-03-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

The Heidelberg Catechism was prepared

Bulbourethral Gland

2005-03-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

Also called Cowper's Gland, either of two pea-shaped glands in the male, located beneath the prostate gland at the beginning of the internal portion of the penis; they add fluids to semen during the process of ejaculation (q.v.). The glands, which measure only about 1 cm (0.4 inch) in diameter, have ducts that empty into the urethra, the tube through which both urine and semen pass. They are composed of a network

Saraikela

2005-03-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Seraikela city, southern Bihar state, northeastern India. The city is a road and agricultural-trade centre located on an undulating plain with copper, iron-ore, asbestos, and limestone deposits. Saraikela was the capital of a former princely state that was founded by Bikram Singh of the Porahat Raj family in the 17th century. It was a sanad (grant) state of the Chota Nagpur Commission

Robert, Henry Martyn

2005-03-07T06:24:00.000-08:00

A graduate (1857) of the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., Robert was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and retired (1901) with the rank of brigadier general. During the Civil War (1861–65) he constructed defenses for Washington,

Confession

2005-03-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the acknowledgment of sinfulness in public or private, regarded as necessary to obtain divine forgiveness. The need for confession is frequently stressed in the Bible. The mission of the Old Testament prophets was to awaken in the people a sense of sinfulness and an acknowledgment of their guilt, both personal and collective. Before

Tiger Moth

2005-03-05T21:50:00.000-08:00

The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea) is a serious pest. These

Canary Islands

2005-03-04T01:32:00.000-08:00

Spanish Islas Canarias comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Spain, consisting of an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, the nearest island being 67 miles (108 km) off the northwest African mainland. The Canaries comprise the Spanish provincias of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as well as the insular councils of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma, Gomera, and

Agostino Di Duccio

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

Agostino's name is associated mainly with the wealth of sculptured decoration for the Tempio Malatestiano at Rimini, a building

Switzerland, Government

2005-03-02T23:51:00.000-08:00

The Swiss Confederation consists of some 3,000 communes, which, like the 26 cantons (including six demi-cantons, or Halbkantone, which function as full cantons), are largely autonomous; they range in size from Bagnes in Valais, with an area of 109 square miles (282 square km), to Ponte Tresa in Ticino, with an area of 0.1 square mile (0.3 square km). From the multiplicity of small communal republics

Craigie, Sir William Alexander

2005-03-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

Craigie attended St. Andrews University, studied Scandinavian languages in Copenhagen, and taught at St. Andrews

Kahanamoku, Duke Paoa

2005-02-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

Kahanamoku set

Earth Sciences, Evaporation from the sea

2005-02-28T03:29:00.000-08:00

The question remained as to whether the amount of water evaporated from the sea is sufficient to account for the precipitation that feeds the streams. The English astronomer-mathematician Edmond Halley measured the rate of evaporation from pans of water exposed to the air during hot summer days. Assuming that this same rate would obtain for the Mediterranean,

World War I, The Balkan front, 1918

2005-02-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

At Salonika the Allies' politically ambitious but militarily ineffective commander in chief, General Sarrail, was replaced at the end of 1917 by General Guillaumat, who was in turn succeeded in July 1918 by General L.-F.-F. Franchet d'Esperey, who launched a major offensive in September with six Serbian and two French divisions against a seven-mile front held by only one Bulgarian

Constitutional Convention

2005-02-24T22:57:00.000-08:00

(1787), in U.S. history, convention that drew up the Constitution of the United States. Stimulated by severe economic troubles, which produced radical political movements such as Shays's Rebellion, and urged on by a demand for a stronger central government, the convention met in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (May 25–Sept. 17, 1787), ostensibly to amend the Articles of Confederation.

Mclean, Jackie

2005-02-22T13:21:00.000-08:00

From a musical family, McLean became known as a fine altoist in his teens and first recorded in 1951, with Miles Davis, playing “Dig” (also called “Donna”), a McLean theme that became a jazz standard. McLean played in Charles Mingus' and Art Blakey's groups, then

Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, Hymns and liturgical compositions

2005-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

“Pange, lingua, gloriosi” (1264); “Verbum supernum prodiens” (1264; “The Word of God Proceeding Forth”); office for the Feast of Corpus Christi (c. 1264), including the sequence “Lauda Sion Salvatorem” (“Praise, O Zion, thy Salvation”).

Eileithyia

2005-02-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Pre-Hellenic goddess of childbirth, who hindered or facilitated the process according to her disposition. The earliest evidence for her cult is at Amnisus, in Crete, where excavations indicate that she was worshiped continuously from Neolithic to Roman times. In Homer's writings she appears, sometimes in the plural, as a personification of birth pangs and is described

Subotica

2005-02-14T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hungarian Szabadka, town in the autonomous pokrajina (province) of Vojvodina in Serbia, Yugoslavia. It lies along the Belgrade–Budapest railway line near the Hungarian border. It is the market centre of the Backa, a fertile agricultural district in which paprika is a specialty. The town is also an industrial centre, with a large thermal-power station. Metal consumer goods, fertilizers, and

Aerospace Industry, Internationalization

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

In the 1960s the high development cost of wide-body jets started a trend toward international risk sharing and cost sharing in aircraft development. American firms sought foreign partners because international cooperation was not subject to antitrust regulations and provided an excellent entry into overseas markets. This kind of partnership proved particularly

Kidinnu

2005-02-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kidenas, or Cidenas astronomer and mathematician who may have discovered the precession of the equinoxes, the slow rotation of the Earth's axis that results in slight variations in the length of the year. Head of the astronomical school at Sippar, Kidinnu was probably responsible for introducing the 19-year cycle into the Babylonian calendar in 383 BC. In this system each year had

Vrije Volk, Het

2005-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

(Dutch: “The Free People”), Socialist evening daily newspaper published in 30 regional editions in Rotterdam and outlying locations, one of the largest and most influential dailies in The Netherlands. It was established in 1900 as Het Volk (“The People”), the official organ of the Socialist Democratic Labour Party. During the German occupation of The Netherlands in World War

Computers, The Internet

2005-02-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

The Internet grew out of funding by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), later renamed the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to develop a communication system among government and academic computer-research laboratories. The first network component, ARPANET, became operational in October 1969. With only 15 nongovernment (university) sites

Silicate Mineral

2005-02-04T05:11:00.000-08:00

The silicates make up about 95 percent of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, occurring as the major constituents of most igneous rocks and in appreciable quantities in sedimentary and metamorphic varieties as well. They also are important constituents

Radioactivity

2005-02-02T20:51:00.000-08:00

An unstable nucleus will decompose spontaneously, or decay, into a more stable configuration but will do so only in a few specific ways by emitting certain particles or certain forms of electromagnetic

Rundstedt, Gerd Von

2005-02-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

An officer in the army from 1893, Rundstedt rose during World

Courante

2005-01-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Courant (from Latin currere, “to run”), court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century and fashionable in aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, for the next 200 years. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides.

Morecambe Bay

2005-01-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

Bay of the Irish Sea deeply indenting the northwest coast of England between the port of Barrow-in-Furness to the north and the seaside resorts of Morecambe and Heysham to the south. The bay separates the Furness region of the historic county of Lancashire (now in the administrative county of Cumbria) from the remainder of Lancashire. Much of the Lake District massif,

Florence Of Worcester

2005-01-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

English monk, usually accepted as the author of Chronicon ex chronicis, which is valuable for late Anglo-Saxon and early post-Conquest history. Its basis is the universal history (from the creation to 1082) compiled by Marianus Scotus, an Irish recluse at Mainz. The author of the Chronicon, like Marianus, was a careful annalist with a marked interest in chronology. He supplements

Aeschylus

2005-01-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

This is the third and only surviving play of a connected trilogy, presented in 467 BC, that dealt with the impious transgressions of Laius and the doom subsequently inflicted upon his descendants. The first play seems to have shown how Laius, king of Thebes, had a son despite the prohibition of the oracle of the god Apollo. In the second play it appears that that son, Oedipus,

Vail, Theodore Newton

2005-01-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

After a highly successful career in the railway postal service, Vail was persuaded in 1878 to join Bell Telephone as general manager. During his active tenure in this

Consort

2005-01-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

Though the authenticity of such terms is doubtful, some researchers have suggested that there were “whole” consorts, in which all the instruments were of one family (typically, stringed or wind instruments),

Tura, Cosimo

2005-01-18T06:05:00.000-08:00

Tura was court artist at the celebrated Renaissance court of the Este dukes at Ferrara and served successively dukes Borso and Ercole I. He was probably trained in Francesco Squarcione's workshop in Padua and was influenced

Varthema, Lodovico De

2005-01-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

De Varthema also spelled Di Barthema, Latin Vartomanus, or Vertomannus, intrepid Italian traveler and adventurer whose account of his Middle Eastern and Asiatic wanderings was widely circulated throughout Europe and earned him high fame in his own lifetime. He made significant discoveries (especially in Arabia) and made many valuable observations of the peoples he visited; his ready wit enabled

Utrecht

2005-01-12T06:09:00.000-08:00

Provincie, central Netherlands, the country's smallest, with an area of 514 square miles (1,331 square km). It extends southward from the narrow Lake Eem, which separates Utrecht provincie from the South Flevoland polder of Flevoland provincie. Utrecht provincie lies between the provincies of Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland (west) and Gelderland (east). Its history is closely

Sabinian

2005-01-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

Under Pope Gregory I the Great, he served as papal ambassador at Constantinople, trying to reconcile the Roman Church with Patriarch John IV the Faster, whose claim to the title of ecumenical patriarch was regarded by Gregory to be a threat to Christian unity. Elected in 604 as Gregory's successor, Sabinian seems to have been markedly

Hyades

2005-01-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the five (or more) sisters of the Pleiades who nursed the infant wine god, Dionysus, and as a reward were made the five stars in the head of the constellation Taurus, the bull. According to another version, they so bitterly lamented the death of their brother Hyas that Zeus, out of compassion, changed them into stars. Their name means the Rainers, since they

Murat River

2005-01-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Murad River, Turkish Murat Nehri, river, the major headstream of the Euphrates. In antiquity it was called Arsanias. The river rises north of Lake Van near Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey, and flows westward for 449 miles (722 km) through a mountainous region to unite with the Karasu Çayi and form the Upper Euphrates near Malatya. Turkey's largest dam, the Keban, west of Elâzig, completed in 1974, is designed to provide electric

Carthage

2005-01-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Hancock county, western Illinois, U.S., near the Mississippi River. Laid out in 1833 and named for the ancient North African city, the community was hostile to the Mormons who had settled at nearby Nauvoo. On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, and his brother Hyrum, who were in the Carthage City Jail awaiting trial on charges of treason, were shot to death

Bry, Theodor De

2005-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

De Bry fled the Spanish persecution of Flemish Protestants and lived in Strassburg (Strasbourg) from 1570 to 1578 and then in Frankfurt am Main, where he established an engraving and publishing business. He twice visited London, where he executed such works as 12 plates for The Procession

Nordmeyer, Sir Arnold Henry

2004-12-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

Nordmeyer graduated from the University of Otago and served as a Presbyterian minister from 1925 until he entered the New Zealand Parliament in 1935. He helped draft the Social Security Act of 1938, which formed the basis for the nation's welfare system,

Falkland Current

2004-12-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Hemisphere, flowing northward in the South Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of Argentina to about latitude 30° to 40° S, where it is deflected eastward after meeting the southward-flowing Brazil Current. Characterized by cold temperatures varying from 41° to 66° F (5° to 19° C), the current has a relatively low salinity averaging

China, The foreign presence

2004-12-27T03:46:00.000-08:00

As a result of several wars and many treaties with China since 1842, foreign powers had acquired a variety of unusual privileges for their nationals. These were specified in the “unequal treaties,” which patriotic Chinese bitterly opposed. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and vast areas in Siberia and Central Asia had been detached from China. Dependencies such as Korea, Outer Mongolia,

Fracturedislocation

2004-12-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

A severe injury in which both fracture and dislocation take place simultaneously. Frequently, a loose piece of bone remains jammed between the ends of the dislocated bones and may have to be removed surgically before the dislocation can be reduced. Immobilization must be longer than in a simple dislocation to permit healing of the fracture; chances for permanent

Kuban River

2004-12-23T02:33:00.000-08:00

River in southwestern Russia, 563 miles (906 km) in length and draining 23,600 square miles (61,000 square km). It rises from glaciers on Mount Elbrus in the Greater Caucasus and flows north through narrow gorges, with many rapids, to the Stavropol Upland, where it turns westward in a broad, marshy floodplain to enter the Sea of Azov. Much of its water is diverted for irrigation. The river is navigable

Güira De Melena

2004-12-20T03:38:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern La Habana province, west central Cuba. It lies amid a fertile agricultural and livestock-raising region known primarily for tobacco, although potatoes and bananas, pineapples, and other tropical fruits are also cultivated. The dairy industry is well developed, and the city contains cigar factories. Pop. (1985 est.) 25,246.

Anglo-saxon Chronicle

2004-12-19T01:29:00.000-08:00

Chronological account of events in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, a compilation of seven surviving interrelated manuscript records that is the primary source for the early history of England. The narrative was first assembled in the reign of King Alfred (871–899) from materials that included some epitome of universal history: the Venerable Bede's Historia ecclesiastica

Biblical Literature, Redemption and revelation

2004-12-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

Significant in the early chapters is God's special concern for the Hebrew slaves, his reference to them as “my people,” and his revelation to Moses, the rebel courtier whom he has picked to be their leader, that he is YHWH, the God of their fathers, an abiding presence that will rescue them from their misery and bring them into Canaan, the land of promise. This assurance is repeated

Soria

2004-12-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Soria province, in the Castile-León comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), north-central Spain, on the western bank of the Duero (Portuguese: Douro) River, about 110 miles (175 km) northeast of Madrid. Restored by Alfonso I the Warrior of Aragon after the Moorish invasion, the city was later given to Alfonso VII of Castile. Medieval Soria was ruled by the unique

Amphibian, Annotated classification

2004-12-13T23:58:00.000-08:00

The following classification is based on that of L. Trueb and R. Cloutier (1991). It emphasizes the lineages leading to the living amphibians and does not include all the fossil taxa; a realistic phylogenetic classification of the class Amphibia is not attainable at the present time, because the relationships of many groups of amphibians are unknown. The characters of

Muhallab Ibn Abi Sufra, Al-

2004-12-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Al-Muhallab first served under the caliph Mu'awiyah, campaigning in India and raiding the country between Kabul and Multan. Later he was stationed in the eastern provinces, leading expeditions against the Central Asian city

Neurosecretory Cell

2004-12-08T13:18:00.000-08:00

A type of neuron, or nerve cell, whose function is to translate neural signals into chemical stimuli. Such cells produce secretions called neurohormones that travel along the neuron axon and are typically released into the bloodstream at neurohemal organs, regions in which the axon endings are in close contact with blood capillaries. Neurosecretory cells are

Cassel, Gustav

2004-12-07T08:38:00.000-08:00

Cassel was educated at the University of Uppsala and Stockholm University and served as a professor of economics at the latter (1904–33). His most

Felix (ii)

2004-12-05T05:24:00.000-08:00

Antipope from 355 to 358. Originally an archdeacon, Felix was irregularly installed as pope in 355 after the emperor Constantius banished the reigning pope, Liberius. In May 357 the Roman laity, which had remained faithful to Liberius, demanded that Constantius recall the true pope. The Emperor planned to have Felix and Liberius rule jointly, but Felix was forced

Anorthite

2004-12-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

A feldspar mineral, calcium aluminosilicate (CaAl2Si2O8), that occurs as white or grayish, brittle, glassy crystals. Primarily a rock-forming mineral, it is used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics. Anorthite occurs in basic igneous rocks, as at Trentino, Italy; Södermanland, Swed.; Tamil Nadu, India; Miyake, Japan; and Franklin, N.J. For detailed physical properties, see feldspar

Gobi

2004-12-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Gobi Desert, great desert and semidesert region of Central Asia. The Gobi (from Mongolian gobi, meaning “waterless place”) stretches across huge portions of both Mongolia and China. Contrary to the perhaps romantic image long associated with what—at least to the European mind—was a remote and unexplored region, much of the Gobi is not sandy desert but bare rock. It is possible to drive

Mammal

2004-11-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

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

Biblical Literature, Pesharim

2004-11-26T23:55:00.000-08:00

An important source of knowledge about the history of the Dead Sea sect is the pesharim (“commentaries”; singular pesher). The sectarian authors commented on the books of Old Testament prophets and the book of Psalms and in the commentaries explained the biblical text as speaking about the history of the sect and of events that happened in the time of its existence.

Adams, Charles Francis

2004-11-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Charles Francis Adams (1900, reprinted 1980), is a biography by his son. A more recent work is Martin B. Duberman, Charles Francis Adams, 1807–1886 (1960).

Epistemology, Necessary versus contingent propositions

2004-11-23T00:50:00.000-08:00

A proposition is said to be necessary if it holds (is true) under all possible circumstances or conditions. “All husbands are married” is such a proposition. There are no possible or conceivable conditions under which this statement would not be true (on the assumption, of course, that the words “husband” and “married” are taken to mean what they ordinarily mean). In contrast,

Israel, Transportation

2004-11-21T10:06:00.000-08:00

Israel has developed a modern, well-marked highway system, and road transport is more significant to the country's commercial and passenger services than transport by rail. Bus companies provide efficient service within and between all cities and towns, supplemented by private taxis and sheruts—privately owned and operated shuttles—which run on urban and interurban

Architecture And Civil Engineering

2004-11-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

Privatization of power generation and its impact on dam building was under way in many countries. Zimbabwe was inviting private investment to

Ibárruri (gómez), (isidora) Dolores

2004-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Born the eighth of 11 children of a Viscayan miner, Ibárruri was compelled by poverty to quit school at age 15 to work as a seamstress and later as a

Discovery

2004-11-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

In law, pretrial procedures providing for the exchange of information between the parties involved in the proceedings. Discovery may be made through interrogatories, which consist of written questions sent from one side to the other in an attempt to secure important facts; it also can be made through depositions, whereby a witness is sworn and, in the presence of

Chatsworth

2004-11-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

Estate near Rowsley, Derbyshire Dales district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, containing the principal seat of the English dukes of Devonshire. Chatsworth House itself stands near the left bank of the River Derwent. Construction of the original building began in 1553, but, after suffering occupation by both parties to the English Civil

Levi Ben Gershom

2004-11-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

In 1321 Levi wrote his first work, Sefer ha-mispar (“Book of the Number”), dealing with arithmetical operations, including extraction of roots. In De sinibus, chordis et arcubus (1342; “On Sines, Chords, and Arcs”) he presented an original derivation of the sine theorem for plane triangles

France, History Of, Conscription

2004-11-09T01:53:00.000-08:00

Building on the Directory's conscription law of September 1798, the Napoleonic regime, after considerable trial and error, had created the mechanisms for imposing on the citizens of France and the annexed territories the distasteful obligation of military service. Each year the Ministry of War Administration assigned a quota of conscripts for every department.

Respighi, Ottorino

2004-11-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Italian composer who introduced Russian orchestral colour and some of the violence of Richard Strauss's harmonic techniques into Italian music. He studied at the Liceo of Bologna and later with Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg, where he was first violist in the Opera Orchestra. From his foreign masters Respighi acquired

Differentiation

2004-11-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

The three basic derivatives

K.c.m.g.

2004-11-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Knight commander of St. Michael and St. George, member of the second highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Saint Michael and Saint George, The Most Distinguished Order of.

Abd El-krim

2004-10-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

In full Muhammad Ibn 'abd Al-karim Al-khattabi leader of a resistance movement against Spanish and French rule in North Africa and founder of the short-lived Republic of the Rif (1921–26). A skilled tactician and a capable organizer, he led a liberation movement that made him the hero of the Maghrib (northwest Africa). A precursor of the anticolonial struggle for independence, Abd el-Krim was defeated

Wright, Benjamin

2004-10-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

He was trained as a surveyor in his youth, and, after his family moved to the vicinity of Rome, N.Y., in 1789, Wright surveyed about 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) for farmers

Ambrose, Saint

2004-10-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Latin Ambrosius bishop of Milan, biblical critic, and initiator of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of church–state relations. His literary works have been acclaimed as masterpieces of Latin eloquence, and his musical accomplishments are remembered in his hymns. Ambrose is also remembered as the teacher

Maupassant, Guy De

2004-10-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

In full Henry-René-Albert-Guy de Maupassant French naturalist writer of short stories and novels who is by general agreement the greatest French short-story writer.

France, History Of, The Fourth Republic

2004-10-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Shortly after his return to Paris, de Gaulle announced that the citizens of France would determine their future governmental system as soon as the absent prisoners and deportees could be repatriated. That process was largely completed by midsummer 1945, soon after Germany's defeat, whereupon de Gaulle scheduled a combined referendum and election for October. Women,

Port Harcourt

2004-10-19T06:09:00.000-07:00

Port town and capital of Rivers state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River (an eastern distributary of the Niger River) 41 miles (66 km) upstream from the Gulf of Guinea. Founded in 1912 in an area traditionally inhabited by the Ijo people, it began to serve as a port (named for Lewis Harcourt, then colonial secretary) after the opening of the rail link to the Enugu coalfields

Paraguay, The Guaraní

2004-10-18T17:56:00.000-07:00

Indian tribes speaking the Guaraní language occupied the region between the Paraguay and Paraná rivers long before the arrival of Europeans. They were members of the Tupian language stock, which was widespread in South America, and in most respects resembled the other Indian tribes of the tropical forests. The women cultivated corn, manioc, and sweet potatoes,

Ibn Tumart

2004-10-16T01:27:00.000-07:00

In full Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Tumart Berber spiritual and military leader who founded the al-Muwahhidun confederation in North Africa (see Almohads). The doctrine he taught combined a strict conception of the unity of God with a program of juridical and puritanical moral reform, based on a study of the Qur'an and of tradition.

Zahedi, Fazlollah

2004-10-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Zahedi early embarked on a military career, graduating from the Iranian military academy in 1916. He joined the Persian Cossack Brigade and at age 25—as a brigadier general—distinguished himself by quelling a Kurdish revolt in western Iran. Three years later

China, Political history

2004-10-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

Ineptitude on the throne, bureaucratic factionalism at court, rivalries among Mongol generals, and ineffective supervision and coordination of provincial and local administration had gravely weakened the Yüan government by the 1340s. And in 1351 disastrous flooding of the Huang and Huai river basins aroused hundreds of thousands of long-oppressed Chinese peasants

Lock

2004-10-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Mechanical device for securing a door or receptacle so that it cannot be opened except by a key or by a series of manipulations that can be carried out only by a person knowing the secret or code.

Abu Sir

2004-10-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Abusir,

Steffens, (joseph) Lincoln

2004-10-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

After attending the University of California, Steffens studied psychology with Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig and with Jean-Martin Charcot in Paris, which confirmed his basic positivist orientation.

Bone Lesion

2004-10-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

Malignant growth of the bone caused by metastatic spread from cancer in other organs. Primary bone cancer is fairly uncommon, but bone lesions from metastases are seen in more than half of all cancer patients at the time of death. There are two types of metastatic bone lesion: osteoblastic, in which new bone is laid down in a disorganized fashion, and osteolytic, in which