WideFowl

Mormon

2005-04-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Mormons accept the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly.” Smith did not finish his translation of the Bible, which incorporates prophecies of his own coming and of the Book of Mormon, which is central to Mormon belief. The Book of Mormon is largely similar in style and themes to the Old Testament. It recounts the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem

Alamogordo

2005-04-05T02:40:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. and Charles B. Eddy in 1898 and named for its large cottonwood trees (Spanish: alamo “cottonwood,” gordo “fat”), it became a division point on the Southern Pacific Railroad and developed as a lumber town and agricultural-market

Chang Hsien-chung

2005-04-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Pinyin Zhang Xianzhong, byname Yellow Tiger Chinese rebel leader at the close of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Following a disastrous famine in the northern province of Shensi in 1628, Chang became the leader of a gang of freebooters. Using hit-and-run tactics, he and his men plundered widely throughout North China. Although his forces were bought off several times

Qadiriyah

2005-04-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

Probably the oldest of the Muslim mystic (Sufi) orders, founded by the Hanbali theologian 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (1078–1166) in Baghdad. Al-Jilani may have intended the few rituals he prescribed to extend only to his small circle of followers, but his sons broadened this community into an order and encouraged its spread into North Africa, Central Asia, and India. The order, which stresses philanthropy,

Sea Lake

2005-04-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

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

Sadhu And Swami

2005-04-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

Also spelled saddhu and swamy, Sanskrit sadhu and svamin, in India, religious or holy men. Sadhu signifies any religious ascetic or holy man. The class of sadhus includes not only genuine saints of many faiths but also men (and occasionally women) who have left their homes in order to concentrate on physical and spiritual disciplines, as well as hermits, magicians, and fortune-tellers, some of dubious religious intent. Swami

Libya, Drainage

2005-03-31T19:52:00.000-08:00

There are no perennial rivers in Libya. The numerous wadis that drain the uplands are filled by flash floods during the rains and quickly dry up or are reduced to a trickle. The largest wadi systems are the Wadi Zamzam and Wadi Bayy al-Kabir, both of which reach the western coast of the Gulf of Sidra. Other large wadis drain the interior basins of Surt, Zaltan, and the Fezzan.

Encke's Comet

2005-03-31T15:20:00.000-08:00

Faint comet having the shortest orbital period (about 3.3 years) of any known; it was also only the second comet (after Halley's) to have its period established. The comet was first observed in 1786 by Pierre Méchain. Johann Franz Encke in 1819 calculated that sightings of apparently different comets in 1786, 1795, 1805, and 1818 were in fact appearances of the same comet, whose short orbital period he was

Allen, Viola (emily)

2005-03-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

Born into a theatrical family, Allen made her debut at age 14 in New York City in the title role of Burnett's Esmeralda. Between 1884 and 1886 she appeared

Cable

2005-03-30T18:08:00.000-08:00

In electrical and electronic systems, a conductor or group of conductors for transmitting electric power or telecommunication signals from one place to another. Electric communication cables transmit voice messages, computer data, and visual images via electrical signals to telephones, wired radios, computers, teleprinters, facsimile machines, and televisions.

Maddalena Pass

2005-03-28T05:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Larche Pass , Italian Colle della Maddalena , or dell'Argentera , French Col de Larche , or de l'Argentière gap between the Cottian Alps (north) and the Maritime Alps (south). The pass lies at 6,548 feet (1,996 m) on the French-Italian border, 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Barcelonnette, Fr. A road (1870) across the pass connects Cuneo, Italy, with Barcelonnette. Hannibal reputedly led his Carthaginian army over the pass toward Rome in 218 BC, and the army of King Francis I of France used the pass to enter Italy

Goddard Family

2005-03-27T10:39:00.000-08:00

Quakers of English ancestry, the Goddards intermarried with the Townsend family, who were equally famous as cabinetmakers. In four generations, 20 Goddard and Townsend craftsmen are known, the peak of their excellent productivity coming in

Gandhi, Indira

2005-03-26T04:49:00.000-08:00

She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. She attended Visva-Bharati University, West Bengal, and the University of Oxford, and in 1942 she married Feroze

Adynaton

2005-03-25T22:52:00.000-08:00

A kind of hyperbole in which the exaggeration is so great that it refers to an impossibility, as in the following lines from Andrew Marvell's “To His Coy Mistress”:Had we but world enough, and timeThis coyness, lady, were no crime.We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love's day.Thou by the Indian Ganges' sideShouldst rubies find; I by the tideOf Humber

'brog-mi

2005-03-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

'Brog-mi studied for one year in Nepal and for eight years at Vikramashila (Bihar, India). Coming under the influence of Atisa, an Indian Buddhist who arrived in Tibet about 1042, 'Brog-mi was a leader in the revival of Tibetan Buddhism. He founded a new and powerful order known as Sa-skya-pa. In 1073 his disciple Dkon-mchog rgyal-po established the

Ashcroft, Dame Peggy

2005-03-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

After graduation from London's Central School of Dramatic Art, Ashcroft made her debut as Margaret in the Birmingham Repertory's production of Dear Brutus (1926). She made her initial London appearance in 1927, but her first important notices were for the role of Naomi in

France, History Of, Conscription

2005-03-23T01:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Papaveraceae

2005-03-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

All species in the family have bisexual, regular,

Soteria

2005-03-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

(from Greek: “deliverance”), in Hellenistic religions, any sacrifice or series of sacrifices performed either in commemoration or in expectation of deliverance from a crisis; in a specific sense the word was often used in reference to large-scale commemorative festivals held at planned intervals. Sixteen Soteria festivals are known; the most famous was that at Delphi,

La Bourdonnais, Bertrand-françois Mahé, Count (comte) De

2005-03-21T01:05:00.000-08:00

La Bourdonnais entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant at 19, was promoted to captain in 1724, and took part in the capture of Mahé on the Malabar Coast (southwestern India) in 1726. From 1735 to 1740, he was governor

Mithradates Ii

2005-03-20T01:59:00.000-08:00

Mithradates recovered the eastern provinces that had been overrun by invading Saka nomads during his father's reign. In the west he conquered Mesopotamia and defeated the Armenian king Artavasdes, whose son Tigranes (later Tigranes II) became a Parthian hostage and was redeemed only for the cession

Serbia And Montenegro, Zeta

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

The Slav peoples were organized along tribal lines, each headed by a zupan (chieftain). In this part of the Adriatic littoral, from the time of the arrival of the Slavs up to the 10th century, these local magnates often were brought into unstable and shifting alliances with other larger states, particularly with Bulgaria, Venice, and Byzantium. Between 931 and 960 one such zupan, Ceslav,

Triglyceride

2005-03-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

Any one of an important group of naturally occurring lipids (fat-soluble components of living cells). Triglycerides are esters in which three molecules of one or more different fatty acids are linked to the alcohol glycerol; they are named according to the fatty acid components; e.g., tristearin contains three molecules of stearic acid, and oleodistearin, one of oleic

Earth, Paleontological research

2005-03-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

Many paleontological observations are most easily explained by continental drift and/or polar wandering. For example, fossils of the freshwater reptile Mesosaurus, which lived 270,000,000 years ago, are found only in South America and Africa. The reptile's bone structure was such that it probably could not have swum across the Atlantic, but if South America and Africa had been

Sunday, Billy

2005-03-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sunday grew up as an orphan and worked as an undertaker's assistant before entering professional baseball in 1883. In 1891 he gave up baseball to become a YMCA worker but turned in 1896 to conducting

Cabeiri

2005-03-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cabiri, important group of deities, probably of Phrygian origin, worshiped over much of Asia Minor, on the islands nearby, and in Macedonia and northern and central Greece. They were promoters of fertility and protectors of seafarers. Perhaps originally indefinite in number, in classical times there appear to have been two male deities, Axiocersus and his son and attendant

Babbler

2005-03-17T04:27:00.000-08:00

Also called Chatterer, any of more than 250 Old World songbirds of the family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes); they are treated by many authorities as a subfamily of the Muscicapidae (q.v.). Noted for their continual and rapid vocalizations, babblers are sometimes called babbling thrushes or chatterers. The name babbler is often used in compound form suggesting habitat, appearance, or behaviour:

Picasso, Pablo, Catalogs

2005-03-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Catalogs addressing specific themes, often in conjunction with museum exhibitions, include William Rubin (ed.), Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective (1980); Christian Geelhaar et al., Pablo Picasso: Das Spätwerk: Themen 1964–1972 (1981); Douglas Cooper and Gary Tinterow, The Essential Cubism, 1907–1920: Braque, Picasso & Their Friends (1983); Gert Schiff, Picasso: The Last Years, 1963–1973 (1983); Jürgen Glaesemer (ed.), Der Junge Picasso: Frühwerk und blaue Periode (1984); Ellen C. Oppler (ed.), Picasso's Guernica: Illustrations, Introductory Essay, Documents, Poetry, Criticism, Analysis (1988); Herschel B. Chipp, Picasso's Guernica: History, Transformations, Meanings (1988); Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 2 vol. (1988); Musée National d'Art Moderne and Tate Gallery, Late Picasso: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings, Prints, 1953–1972 (1988); William Rubin, Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism (1989); William Rubin (ed.), Picasso and Portraiture: Representation and Transformation (1996); Elizabeth Cowling and John Golding, Picasso: Sculptor/Painter (1994); Marilyn McCully (ed.), Picasso: The Early Years, 1892–1906 (1997); Steven A. Nash and Robert Rosenblum (eds.), Picasso and the War Years, 1937–1945 (1998); and Marilyn McCully (ed.), Picasso: Painter and Sculptor in Clay (1998).

Abu

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

Also called Mount Abu, city, southwestern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is situated on the slopes of Mount Abu, an isolated feature of the Aravali Range. The city is a noted hill resort, and the Jaina temples at nearby Dilwara, built of white marble, are famous. Tejpal temple, built about AD 1200, is known for the delicacy and richness of its carving, especially for that on the underside of its dome.

Benckendorff, Aleksandr Khristoforovich, Count

2005-03-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Of Baltic-German origin, Benckendorff joined the Russian army and was one of the officers who assassinated Emperor Paul I in 1801. Between 1806 and 1815 he fought in numerous military campaigns,

Moraceae

2005-03-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

The mulberry family of the nettle order (Urticales), with about 40 genera and some 1,000 species of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Plants of the family contain a milky latex and have alternate or opposite leaves and small, petalless male or female flowers. The fruits of many species are multiple because fruits

Eagles, The

2005-03-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Marc Shapiro, The Story of the Eagles: The Long Run (1995), is a biography. Marc Eliot, To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles (1997), contains copious information on the band's formation and business dealings. James Hunter, “The Eagles,” in Paul Kingsbury (ed.), Country on Compact Disc (1993), pp. 55–56, is an evaluative recordings entry with special emphasis on how the Eagles' studio style affected some Nashville artists during the 1990s. “The Eagles,” in Patricia Romanowski, Holly George-Warren, and Jon Pareles (eds.), The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, completely rev. and updated (1995), pp. 293–295, includes a discography, career chronologies, and band history.

Ammons, A.r.

2005-03-14T01:42:00.000-08:00

A 1949 graduate of Wake Forest College (now University), Ammons worked as an elementary school principal and as a glass company executive before turning his full attention to literature. From 1964 to 1998 he taught

Literature

2005-03-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

Three novels were particularly eye-catching to the Chinese literati in 2001. The first was You Fengwei's Zhongguo 1957 (“China 1957”). Written in the first person, the novel told a series of tragic stories about the victims—mostly university students and teachers—of the antirightist campaign of 1957 in which more than 550,000 Chinese were

Stearic Acid

2005-03-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

In nature stearic acid

Paradox

2005-03-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Apparently self-contradictory statement, the underlying meaning of which is revealed only by careful scrutiny. The purpose of a paradox is to arrest attention and provoke fresh thought. The statement “Less is more” is an example. Francis Bacon's saying, “The most corrected copies are commonly the least correct,” is an earlier literary example. In George Orwell's anti-utopian

Mercer

2005-03-12T04:30:00.000-08:00

The county was created

Alexis, Willibald

2005-03-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Alexis grew up in Berlin. After service as a volunteer in the campaign of 1815, he studied law at Berlin and Breslau but abandoned his legal career for writing after the success of his literary hoax Walladmor (1824), a parody

Nadig, Marie-thérèse

2005-03-11T03:20:00.000-08:00

At 17, Nadig had never won a World Cup race and was not considered a threat to the favoured Pröll. When Nadig finished the downhill course with a time of 1 min 36.68 sec,

Teesdale

2005-03-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

District, administrative county of Durham, northeastern England, in the southwestern part of the county. The district lies on both sides of the River Tees. The area north of the river belongs to the historic county of Durham, and the area to the south lies in the historic county of Yorkshire. Teesdale is mostly an upland area within the northern Pennines. Its bleak basalt

Perceptual Constancy

2005-03-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

Also called Object Constancy, or Constancy Phenomenon, the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting. The impression tends to conform to the object as it is or is assumed to be, rather than to the actual stimulus. Perceptual constancy is responsible for the ability to identify objects

Cern

2005-03-09T19:37:00.000-08:00

Byname of Organisation Européene pour la Recherche Nucléaire, formerly (1952–54) Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, English European Organization for Nuclear Research, international scientific organization established for the purpose of collaborative research into subnuclear physics (also called high-energy, or particle, physics). The organization operates expressly for research of a “pure scientific and fundamental character,” and the results of its experimental and theoretical work are made generally available. Headquarters

Wichita Orogeny

2005-03-09T01:31:00.000-08:00

A period of block faulting in the southern part of the Wichita–Arbuckle System in western Oklahoma and northern Texas. The uplift is dated from the Late Carboniferous epoch (formerly the Pennsylvanian period; the Late Carboniferous epoch occurred from 320 to 286 million years ago). The Apishipa–Sierra Grande uplift in eastern Colorado and northern New Mexico is of similar

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Allegory and myth

2005-03-08T06:29:00.000-08:00

The fate of allegory, in all its many variations, is tied to the development of myth and mythology. Every culture embodies its basic assumptions in stories whose mythic structures reflect the society's prevailing attitudes toward life. If the attitudes are disengaged from the structure, then the allegorical meaning implicit in the structure is revealed. The systematic

Fusulinella

2005-03-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

Genus of extinct fusulinid foraminiferans (protozoans with a shell) found as fossils in Late Carboniferous marine rocks (those formed between 320 and 286 million years ago). Because of its narrow time range and wide geographic distribution, Fusulinella is an excellent guide fossil for Late Carboniferous rocks and time.

Bohemond V

2005-03-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

The son of Bohemond IV by his wife Plaisance, he succeeded his father in 1233 and carried on the struggle with Armenia until 1251, when the marriage of the future Bohemond VI to the sister of the Armenian king finally brought peace. By his first marriage (1225) with Alice, the widow of Hugh I of Cyprus, Bohemond V connected the history

Hernici

2005-03-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Ancient people of Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake (modern Fucino) and the Trerus (modern Sacco) River, bounded by the Volsci on the south and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. In 486 BC they were still strong enough to conclude a treaty with the Romans on equal terms. They broke away from Rome in 362–358. In 306 their chief town, Anagnia (Anagni), was taken by the

A Priori Knowledge

2005-03-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

In Western philosophy since the time of Immanuel Kant, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which derives from experience alone. The Latin phrases a priori (“from what is before”) and a posteriori (“from what is after”) were used in philosophy originally to distinguish between arguments from causes and arguments

Fruitworm Beetle

2005-03-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

Any of a few genera of insects in the family Byfuridae (order Coleoptera) whose larvae feed on fruit. A common example of this family of small, hairy, oval beetles is the raspberry fruitworm (Byturus rubi). The small, pale larva, which is covered with short fine hairs, attacks the raspberry fruit. The adult, which ranges in colour from reddish yellow to black, is about 4 mm (0.16 inch)

Yamm

2005-03-05T05:14:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Yam ancient West Semitic deity who ruled the oceans, rivers, lakes, and underground springs. He also played an important role in the Baal myths recorded on tablets uncovered at Ugarit, which say that at the beginning of time Yamm was awarded the divine kingship by El, the chief god of the pantheon. One day, Yamm's messengers requested that the gods surrender Baal to be a bond

Cohnheim, Julius Friedrich

2005-03-05T01:55:00.000-08:00

At the Pathological Institute, Berlin (1865–68), Cohnheim was an outstanding pupil of Rudolf Virchow, founder of the science of pathology. While assisting him, Cohnheim

Earth, Faulting

2005-03-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

Normal

Abbeville

2005-03-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1854) of Vermilion parish, southern Louisiana, U.S., on the Vermilion River, 20 miles (32 km) south-southwest of Lafayette. It was founded in 1843 by a Capuchin missionary, Père Antoine Desire Mégret, who patterned it on a French Provençal village. First called La Chapelle and settled by Acadians from Nova Scotia and Mediterranean immigrants, it was later named Abbeville (“Priest's

Silk Spider

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

Also called Golden Silk Spider (Nephila), any of a genus of the class Arachnida (phylum Arthropoda), so named because of the great strength of their silk and the golden colour of their huge orb webs. These webs often measure one metre (about three feet) or more in diameter and are suspended between trees by guy lines. About 60 species are known to live in the warmer regions of the world. Adult females are very

Japan

2005-03-02T21:24:00.000-08:00

Japanese Nihon or Nippon country lying off the east coast of Asia. It consists of a great string of islands in a northeast-southwest arc that stretches for approximately 1,500 miles (2,400 km) through the western Pacific Ocean. Japan has a total land area of 145,903 square miles (377,887 square km). Nearly this entire area is taken up by the country's four main islands; from north to south these are Hokkaido (Hokkaido), Honshu

Salchow, Ulrich

2005-03-02T15:22:00.000-08:00

Salchow was a generous competitor, and he acknowledged the talents of others. At the 1902 World Championships, Madge Syers finished second

Bavand Dynasty

2005-03-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

The origins and early years of the dynasty

Korçë

2005-03-01T03:21:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Korça, Korcha , or Kortcha , Old Slavonic Koritsa , Italian Corizza city, southeastern Albania. It began as a feudal estate in the 13th century, and in 1484 the local lord, Koja Mirahor Ilyas Bey, a Muslim convert active in the Ottoman siege of Constantinople (1453), returned to the site and built the mosque that bears his name. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries Korçë was a centre of commerce and trade. The first school to use the Albanian language opened there

Orbison, Roy

2005-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

Raised in West Texas, Orbison formed his first musical group at age 13. He dropped out of college to pursue music, and as a member of the Teen-Kings

Bracciano, Lake

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

Italian Lago di Bracciano , ancient (Latin) Lacus Sabatinus circular lake in Roma provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies in the Sabatini Mountains, just northwest of Rome. Mineral hot springs along its shores recall its earlier geologic formation from a group of volcanic craters. The surface lies 538 feet (164 m) above sea level, with an area of 22 square miles (58 square km). The maximum depth is 525 feet (160 m) and the diameter is about

Bear Grass

2005-02-28T03:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Turkey Beard, one of two species of North American plants comprising the genus Xerophyllum of the lily family (Liliaceae). The western species, X. tenax, also is known as elk grass, squaw grass, and fire lily. It is a smooth, light-green mountain perennial with a stout, unbranched stem, from 0.6 to 2 metres (2 to 6 feet) high, which rises from a woody, tuber-like rootstock and cordlike roots. The stem bears

Armoire

2005-02-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

The word, which sometimes denoted

Gregory, Dick

2005-02-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

Byname of Richard Claxton Gregory African-American comedian, civil rights activist, and spokesman for health issues, who became nationally recognized in the 1960s for a biting brand of comedy that attacked racial prejudice. By addressing his hard-hitting satire to white audiences, he gave a comedic voice to the rising Civil Rights Movement. In the 1980s his nutrition business venture targeted

Amplifier

2005-02-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

In electronics, device that responds to a small input signal (voltage, current, or power) and delivers a larger output signal that contains the essential waveform features of the input signal. Amplifiers of various types are widely used in such electronic equipment as radio and television receivers, high-fidelity audio equipment, and computers. Amplifying action

Bárány, Robert

2005-02-26T02:00:00.000-08:00

Bárány graduated in medicine from the University of Vienna in 1900. After study at German clinics he became assistant at the ear clinic of the University of Vienna

Allegory

2005-02-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Literary allegories typically describe situations and events or express abstract ideas in terms of material objects,

Auer, Leopold

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

Auer studied under the celebrated virtuoso Joseph Joachim. From 1868 he was professor of violin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory

Mountain, Alpine- (or Himalayan-)type belts

2005-02-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

These belts are thought to have been created by the movement of one continent beneath another. In general, a thick layer of light, buoyant continental crust cannot be carried deep into the asthenosphere. Instead, the leading edge of the descending continent is scraped off, and the rest of the continent then plunges beneath the off-scraped slice. Eventually the convergence

Kuala Belait

2005-02-24T05:51:00.000-08:00

Town, western Brunei. It lies along the Belait River near the South China Sea, west of Seria. It is the centre of an oil field that includes offshore wells. Kuala Belait is a river port on the coastal road that runs eastward to Seria and Bandar Seri Begawan, the national capital. A government vocational school supplies technical training in construction and engineering

Radar

2005-02-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

(from “radio detecting and ranging”), electromagnetic sensor used for detecting, locating, tracking, and identifying objects of various kinds at considerable distances. It operates by transmitting electromagnetic energy toward objects, commonly referred to as targets, and observing the echoes returned from them. The targets may be aircraft, ships, spacecraft, automotive

Melilite

2005-02-22T04:47:00.000-08:00

Any member of a series of silicate minerals that consist of calcium silicates of aluminum and magnesium; gehlenite is the aluminous end-member and åkermanite the magnesian end-member. These minerals crystallize from calcium-rich, alkaline magmas and from many artificial melts and blast-furnace slags. They occur in thermally metamorphosed limestones at contact

Haber, Fritz

2005-02-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Morris Goran, The Story of Fritz Haber (1967), contains an exhaustive bibliography of writings by and relating to Haber.

Aaron

2005-02-21T02:05:00.000-08:00

Aaron is described in the Old Testament book of Exodus as a son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi, three years older than his brother Moses. He acted together with his brother in the desperate situation of the Israelites in Egypt and took an active part in the Exodus. Although Moses was the actual leader, Aaron acted as his “mouth.” The two brothers went to the pharaoh

Water Cock

2005-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

(Gallicrex cinerea), marsh bird of the rail family, Rallidae (order Gruiformes). It occurs from India to Japan and throughout Southeast Asia to the Philippines. The male is blue-black with red legs, a strongly conical red bill, and a protruding red frontal shield. The female is mottled and barred yellowish brown. The water cock is troublesome in rice fields, where it likes

Empiricism, Stricter senses

2005-02-20T14:26:00.000-08:00

As a more strictly defined movement, Empiricism reflects certain fundamental distinctions and occurs in varying degrees.

Black Hills

2005-02-20T04:30:00.000-08:00

Isolated, eroded mountain region in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, U.S., lying largely within the Black Hills National Forest. The hills lie between the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche rivers and rise about 3,000 feet (900 m) above the surrounding plains; they culminate in Harney Peak (7,242 feet [2,207 m]), the highest point in South Dakota. The Black Hills formed as a result of an upwarping

Steam

2005-02-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

Odourless, invisible gas consisting of vaporized water. It is usually interspersed with minute droplets of water, which gives it a white, cloudy appearance. In nature, steam is produced by the heating of underground water by volcanic processes and is emitted from hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, and certain types of volcanoes. Steam also can be generated on a large

Carnivore, Form and function

2005-02-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

Being highly carnivorous, mustelids have well-developed carnassials and a reduced number of premolar and molar teeth, the total number of teeth being between 30 and 38 (average, 34). With such a reduction in tooth number, the facial area of these animals is shortened. In the wolverine and American badger the bone of the lower jaw has a projection, the postglenoid process, that

Jackson, Thomas Jonathan

2005-02-18T14:06:00.000-08:00

Byname Stonewall Jackson Confederate general in the American Civil War, one of its most skillful tacticians, who gained his sobriquet “Stonewall” by his stand at the First Battle of Bull Run (called First Manassas by the South) in 1861.

France, History Of, Philip Augustus

2005-02-18T06:01:00.000-08:00

Philip's outstanding achievement was to wrest control from the Plantagenets of most of the domains they held in France. Intervening in struggles between Henry II of England and his sons, Philip won preliminary concessions in 1187 and 1189. He acquired strategic lands on the Norman borders following wars with Henry's sons, King Richard and King John (1196 and 1200). And when, in 1202, John failed

Zanjan

2005-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of northwestern Iran. It lies west of Tehran and is bordered on the northwest by Azerbaijan and on the southwest by Kordestan. The region constitutes one of the uplands that frame central Iran and has an average elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 m). It forms part of the Caspian Sea basin. The Zanjan River is the only major river in the region. Agriculture is the principal

Genetic Disease, Human, Ethical issues

2005-02-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

Because many couples choose to terminate a pregnancy when the fetus is found to be carrying a severe genetic disorder, prenatal diagnosis has become entangled in the ethical debate that surrounds elective abortion. It is regrettable that to many people intrauterine diagnosis is synonymous with abortion, which it is not. The vast majority of women who have genetic

Sard And Sardonyx

2005-02-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

Translucent, light- to dark-brown varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony, historically two of the most widely used semiprecious stones. Sard and its close relative carnelian have been used in engraved jewelry for centuries. Sard (from Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia) was originally called sardion, which included both sard and carnelian until the Middle

Montpensier, Anne-marie-louise D'orléans, Duchess (duchesse) De

2005-02-16T03:17:00.000-08:00

Byname La Grande Mademoiselle princess of the royal house of France, prominent during the Fronde and the minority of Louis XIV. She was known as Mademoiselle because her father, Gaston de France, Duke d'Orléans and uncle of Louis XIV, had the designation of Monsieur. From her mother, Marie de Bourbon-Montpensier, she inherited a huge fortune, including Eu and Dombes as well

Padmasambhava

2005-02-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

According to tradition, he was a native of Udyana (now Swat, Pak.), an area famed for its magicians. Padmasambhava was a Tantrist and a member of the Yogacara sect and taught at Nalanda, a centre of Buddhist studies

Mu'tazilah

2005-02-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

The name first appears in early Islamic history in the dispute over 'Ali's leadership of the Muslim community after the murder of the third caliph, 'Uthman (656). Those who would neither

Manchester

2005-02-14T23:41:00.000-08:00

City, Hillsborough county, southern New Hampshire, U.S. It lies along the Amoskeag Falls (named for the Amoskeag Indians who once inhabited the area) of the Merrimack River, the 55-foot (17-metre) drop of which provides hydroelectric power. Manchester is the state's largest city and the centre of a metropolitan area that includes Goffstown, Bedford, Londonderry, and

Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey

2005-02-14T05:49:00.000-08:00

Murchison joined the Geological Society of London in 1825 and in the following five years explored Scotland, France, and the Alps and collaborated alternately with the British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Charles

Ekkehard Iv

2005-02-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

He grew up at Sankt Gallen, being educated by the celebrated German scholar Notker Labeo, Ekkehard I's nephew. From sometime after 1022 until 1031 he was director

Fribourg

2005-02-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

German Freiburg, canton, western Switzerland, bounded by Lake Neuchâtel and the cantons of Vaud on the west and south and Bern on the east, with enclaves within Vaud. Occupying an area of 644 sq mi (1,669 sq km), it lies in an elevated plain (Swiss Plateau) and rises from flat land in the west through a hilly region up to the PreAlps in the south and east. The highest summits are to the south in La Gruyère

Aasen, Ivar

2005-02-12T05:11:00.000-08:00

After studying Old Norwegian, Aasen undertook a survey of the contemporary Norwegian dialects. These he judged to be the true offshoots of Old Norwegian, as distinct from the Danish-influenced

Antequera

2005-02-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

City, Málaga province, in the autonomous community (region) of Andalusia, southern Spain, northwest of Málaga, at the foot of the Sierra del Torcal. Neolithic dolmens (Menga, Viera, and El Romeral) attest to prehistoric occupation of the site. The city, known to the Romans as Anticaria and to the Moors as Madinah Antakira, was reconquered for Christian Spain by the infante

Mindel Glacial Stage

2005-02-11T11:30:00.000-08:00

Major division of Pleistocene time and deposits in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Mindel Glacial Stage is part of the early geologic scheme (c. 1900) that first recognized the importance of multiple episodes of Pleistocene glaciation. The Mindel Glacial Stage, representing a period of relatively severe climatic

Vanbrugh, Sir John

2005-02-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

Vanbrugh's grandfather was a Flemish merchant, and his father was a sugar baker in Chester, Cheshire, England, where the young Vanbrugh (by tradition)

Strand, Mark

2005-02-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

Educated at Antioch College (B.A., 1957), Yale University (B.F.A., 1959), and the University of Iowa (M.A., 1962), Strand later taught at several American universities, including Brandeis, Princeton,

Holbein, Hans, The Elder

2005-02-09T18:08:00.000-08:00

Nothing is known of Holbein's early life and training, but he was married and established as a

Accra

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

When the Portuguese first settled on the coast of what is now Ghana in 1482, the present site of Accra was occupied

Durango

2005-02-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

Although first settled in 1556, it was not officially founded until 1563. It was the political and ecclesiastical capital of Nueva Vizcaya,

Catecholamine

2005-02-08T04:35:00.000-08:00

All catecholamines begin

Zambezi River

2005-02-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

The Lozi (Barotse), who dominate much of the upper Zambezi, have taken advantage of the seasonal flooding of the Barotse Plain for centuries and have an agricultural economy that is supplemented by animal husbandry, fishing, and trade. The main groups of the middle Zambezi include the Tonga, Shona, Chewa, and Nsenga peoples, all of whom largely practice subsistence agriculture.