WhitesilverRoof

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Biblical Literature, The lawbook

2005-03-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

The laws are the central core and purport of the book of Deuteronomy. They are couched in a hortatory, sermonic style that has led to their being categorized as preached law. Emphatic statements of what must or must not be done are connected with exhortations to fulfill these injunctions, pointing to the motivations and spirit in which they should be carried out. There

Sasolburg

2005-03-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Free State province, South Africa, south of Johannesburg. Established in 1954, it was built by Sasol Ltd. (the former South African Coal, Oil, and Gas Corporation Ltd.) to house employees at the world's first oil-from-coal plant producing commercial quantities of oil. The location was selected for its proximity to large coal deposits, the Vaal River, and the Witwatersrand

Later Le Dynasty

2005-03-14T01:50:00.000-08:00

The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then occupying Vietnam; by 1428 he had liberated the country and was free to begin the process of recovering the southern

Culebra Island

2005-03-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla De Culebra, island, Puerto Rico, 20 miles (30 km) east of Puerto Rico island and 15 miles west of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. The island fronts north on the Atlantic Ocean and south and west on Vieques Sound, which connects the Atlantic with the Caribbean Sea. About 7 miles (11 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide, Culebra Island is 10 square miles (26 square km) in area. Its hilly, almost barren mass of limestone and igneous

Károlyi, Mihály, Count (gróf)

2005-03-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

In full Mihaly, Count Károlyi von Nagykárolyi Hungarian statesman who before World War I desired a reorientation of Austro-Hungarian foreign policy toward friendship with states other than Germany. He also advocated concessions to Hungary's non-Magyar subjects. After the war, as president of the Hungarian Democratic Republic in 1919, Károlyi was

Kili

2005-03-08T21:04:00.000-08:00

Coral island in the Ralik chain of the Marshall Islands, west-central Pacific Ocean. It is about 230 acres (93 hectares) in area. Islanders from Bikini, site of U.S. atomic-bomb tests, were moved to Kili in 1949. Some of the Bikinians who returned to Bikini in the mid-1970s had to return to Kili in 1978, as their home atoll remained too contaminated by nuclear waste for habitation. Coconuts are grown

Middleton, Thomas

2005-03-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

A popular playwright,

Ernest Ii

2005-03-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

He succeeded his father, Duke Ernest I, in 1844. In 1852 he gave Gotha a new constitution, which in part coordinated the administration of his two duchies. In 1861 Ernest concluded

Field, David Dudley

2005-03-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

U.S. lawyer whose advocacy of law codification had international influence. The “Field Code” of civil procedure, enacted by New York state in 1848, was subsequently adopted in whole or in part in many other U.S. states, in the federal court system, and in England, Ireland (both 1873), and several British overseas possessions, notably India. He was

More, Sir Thomas

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

Also called Saint Thomas More humanist and statesman, chancellor of England (1529–32), who was beheaded for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic church.

Yamoussoukro Basilica

2005-03-02T00:14:00.000-08:00

In full Our Lady Of Peace Of Yamoussoukro Basilica, Roman Catholic basilica in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, that is the largest Christian church in the world. The basilica's rapid construction in 1986–89 was paid for by Côte d'Ivoire's president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and the building is situated in his birthplace, the city of Yamoussoukro. The basilica's form is roughly based on that of Saint Peter's in Rome, with a dome surmounting

Pencil Fish

2005-02-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

Any of several slender South American fishes belonging to three groups of characins, treated by some authorities as three separate families and by others as a single family, Characidae. Pencil fish pick animal food from the bottom or from plant surfaces. Most species inhabit slow-moving water and all live in fresh water. Some habitually swim at an angle, tail down,

Gadus

2005-02-28T04:25:00.000-08:00

Fish genus of the family Gadidae, including the individuals and groups known as bib, cod, pollock, and whiting (qq.v.).

Theophrastus

2005-02-26T05:32:00.000-08:00

Theophrastus was one of the few Peripatetics who fully

Coindre, André

2005-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Coindre, in his formative years, witnessed the devastating aftermath of the persecution of the church conducted by

Epistemology, Implications

2005-02-25T01:51:00.000-08:00

First, as the divergent perceptions about the stick indicate, things cannot just be as they appear to be. People believe that the stick which looks bent when it is in the water is really straight, and they also believe that the stick which

Hadron

2005-02-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

In physics, any of the subatomic particles that are built from quarks and thus react through the agency of the strong nuclear force. The hadrons embrace mesons (e.g., pions and kaons), baryons (e.g., protons, neutrons, and sigma particles), and their many resonances. All observed subatomic particles except bosons (e.g., photons, W particles, and Z particles) and leptons (e.g., electrons,

Hurdle Race

2005-02-23T00:35:00.000-08:00

Horse race over a course on which a number of obstacles, called hurdles, must be jumped. Hurdle racing, a kind of preparation for steeplechasing, originated in England and Ireland in the 18th century and by the second half of the 20th century had spread to Commonwealth countries, Europe, and the eastern United States. Its hurdles are light and movable and are lower than steeplechase

Italian Liberal Party

2005-02-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

The Liberal Party was first formed as a parliamentary group within the Piedmont assembly in 1848 by Count Camillo di Cavour, who eventually brought about the unification of Italy and became

Metabolism, ATP yield of aerobic oxidation

2005-02-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

The loss of the two molecules of carbon dioxide in steps [41] and [42] does not yield biologically useful energy. The substrate-linked formation of ATP accompanies step [43], in which one molecule of of ATP, is formed during each turn of the cycle. The hydrogen ions and electrons that result from steps [40], [42], [44], and [46] are passed down the chain of respiratory carriers to oxygen, with the concomitant

Gyllensten, Lars (johan Wictor)

2005-02-20T01:28:00.000-08:00

Gyllensten was reared and educated in Stockholm and was a professor of medicine at the Karolinska Institute for 18 years. He served on the Nobel Committee for Literature from 1968 and was made permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy in 1977. The Swedish Foundation

Xenacanthus

2005-02-19T22:42:00.000-08:00

Long-surviving but now extinct genus of freshwater sharks. Xenacanthus survived from the end of the Devonian Period, some 360 million years ago, to about the end of the Triassic Period, 208 million years ago. Xenacanthus had a slim, elongated body with a low dorsal fin that extended down most of it, almost merging with the triangular, pointed tail. From the back of the skull, a long,

Sankt Gallen

2005-02-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

French Saint-gall, canton, northeastern Switzerland, bounded north by Lake Constance (Bodensee); east by the Rhine Valley, which separates it from the Austrian Vorarlberg Bundesland (federal state) and from Liechtenstein; south by the cantons of Graubünden, Glarus, and Schwyz; west by the canton of Zürich; and northwest by the canton of Thurgau. Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden and Appenzell Inner-Rhoden

Robert

2005-02-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

Robert's early years were clouded by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–88), in which his father, Charles II of Anjou, was taken prisoner by the Aragonese. By the terms of the treaty Charles was freed, and Robert took his place as hostage at the Aragonese court. Taking the title of duke of Calabria

Dennis, John

2005-02-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Educated at Harrow School and the University of Cambridge, Dennis traveled on the European continent before settling in London, where he met leading literary figures. At first he wrote odes and plays, but, although

Dargomyzhsky, Aleksandr

2005-02-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

Dargomyzhsky grew up in St. Petersburg as a talented amateur musician, playing the violin and piano and dabbling in composition. His acquaintance with the composer Mikhail Glinka (1833) turned his thoughts more seriously toward composition,

Mardin

2005-02-14T02:30:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Mardin il (province), southeastern Turkey. It lies on the southern slopes of a broad highland that rises to an altitude of 3,450 ft (1,052 m) and overlooks extensive limestone plateaus. The locality receives more rainfall than the lower plains and has hot summers and cold winters. A ruined Roman citadel, rebuilt in medieval times, crowns the summit of the highland

Sierra Leone

2005-02-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

There are about 18 ethnic groups that exhibit similar cultural features, such as secret societies, chieftaincy, patrilineal descent, and farming methods. The Mende, found in the east and south, and the Temne in the north form the two largest groups. Other major groups include the Limba, Kuranko, Susu, Yalunka, and Loko, in the north; the Kono and Kissi, in the east; and the Sherbro,

West Seneca

2005-02-12T10:19:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Erie county, western New York, U.S. It lies immediately southeast of Buffalo, in the lee of Lake Erie. It was settled in 1842 by the Ebenezer Society Amana colonies, a German religious sect that purchased 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares) of the Seneca Indian Reservation. The town, organized as Seneca in 1851, was renamed in 1852 to avoid confusion with another Seneca farther east. Between

'abbas I

2005-02-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

The third son of Soltan Mohammad Shah, 'Abbas came to the throne in October 1588, at a critical moment in the fortunes of the Safavid dynasty. The weak rule of his semiblind father had allowed usurpation by the amirs, or chiefs, of the Turkmen tribes, who had brought the Safavid to power and still constituted the backbone of Safavid military strength. Moreover, the intertribal factionalism

Dworkin, Andrea

2005-02-09T07:15:00.000-08:00

Dworkin began writing at an early age. During her undergraduate years at Vermont's Bennington College (B.A., 1968), she became involved with the student demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Her experience in the New

Ribosome

2005-02-09T00:55:00.000-08:00

Tiny particle that is present in large numbers in all living cells and which is the site of protein synthesis. Ribosomes are tiny granules that occur both as free particles within cells and as particles attached to the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. A ribosome measures about 200 angstroms in diameter and consists of about 40 percent protein and 60 percent RNA

Dworkin, Andrea

2005-02-07T04:22:00.000-08:00

Organization that evolved out of an international protest against atmospheric nuclear testing held on November 1, 1961. On that day between 12,000 and 50,000 women in various nations demonstrated to protest nuclear testing and to voice concern, in particular, about the hazards posed by such testing to children's health. In the United States some 1,500 women marched in Washington, D.C., to make

France, History Of, Wartime France

2005-02-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

The German victory left the French groping for a new policy and new leadership. Some 30 prominent politicians—among them Édouard Daladier and Pierre Mendès-France—left for North Africa to set up a government-in-exile there; but Pétain blocked that enterprise by ordering their arrest on arrival in Morocco. The undersecretary of war in the fallen Reynaud Cabinet, General

Yama

2005-02-06T02:16:00.000-08:00

In Tibetan Buddhism, one of the eight fierce protective deities. See dharmapala.

La Mancha

2005-02-04T15:45:00.000-08:00

Barren, elevated plateau (2,000 ft [610 m]) of central Spain, stretching between the Montes (mountains) de Toledo and the western spurs of the Cerros (hills) de Cuenca, and bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north by La Alcarria region. It includes portions of the modern provinces of Cuenca, Toledo, and Albacete, and most of Ciudad Real province. It constitutes the southern

Console

2005-02-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

In architecture, type of bracket or corbel, particularly one with a scroll-shaped profile: usually an ogee (S or inverted S curve) or double-ogee terminating in volutes (spirals) above and below. A console projects about one-half its height or less to support a windowhead, cornice, shelf, or sculpture. The difference between a console and other varieties of bracket has more

Baha' Ad-din Zuhayr

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

Baha' ad-Din Zuhayr studied at Qus, a centre of trade and scholarship in Upper Egypt, and eventually moved to Cairo. There he entered the service of the Ayyubid prince as-Salih Ayyub, serving as the prince's secretary on a campaign in Syria in 1232. During an Ayyubid family dispute in 1239, as-Sali

Bean

2005-02-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

Seed or pod of certain leguminous plants of the family Fabaceae, originally of Vicia faba, an Old World species called broad bean, or fava bean. The mature seeds of the principal beans used for food, except soybeans (q.v.), are rather similar in composition, although they differ widely in eating quality. Rich in protein and providing moderate amounts

Burnet, Sir Macfarlane

2005-01-31T23:08:00.000-08:00

Burnet received his medical degree in 1924 from the University of Melbourne

Chegutu

2005-01-31T15:31:00.000-08:00

On the main road and railway line from Harare (formerly Salisbury) to Bulawayo, Chegutu is the service centre for a large farming district (corn [maize], tobacco,

Szymborska, Wislawa

2005-01-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

Szymborska's father was the steward on a count's family estate. When she was eight, the family moved to Kraków, and she attended high school there. Between 1945 and 1948 she studied literature and sociology

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-01-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

While a bank clerk at Whitchurch, Shropshire, and at Manchester, Caldecott began drawing for local magazines. Through his acquaintance with George Du Maurier he began contributing to

Kebiishi

2005-01-28T07:58:00.000-08:00

Originally created about 810 to deal with the disturbances resulting

Chemical Banking Corporation

2005-01-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

The holding company's principal subsidiary was Chemical Bank, which was chartered in 1824 in New York City as a division of the New York Chemical Manufacturing Company. Manufacturing activities were dropped in 1832. In 1844 the company was reconstituted as a state bank, and the chemical

Oannes

2005-01-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian mythology, an amphibious being who taught mankind wisdom. Oannes, as described by the Babylonian priest Berosus, had the form of a fish but with the head of a man under his fish's head and under his fish's tail the feet of a man. In the daytime he came up to the seashore of the Persian Gulf and instructed mankind in writing, the arts, and the sciences. Oannes was

Roddenberry, Gene

2005-01-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Roddenberry briefly attended Los Angeles City College, flew B-17 bombers during World War II, and was an airline

Children's Literature, Overview

2005-01-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

The French themselves are not happy with their record. Writing in the late 1940s, critic Jean de Trigon, in Histoire de la littérature enfantine, de ma Mère l'Oye au Roi Babar (Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1950) said: “The French have created little children's literature. They have received more than they have given, but they have assimilated, adapted, transformed. The two are not the same

Furniture, Functionalist modern

2005-01-22T22:33:00.000-08:00

About 1925, a new rationality began in furniture design, stimulated by the emergence of progressive experiments typified in the works and theories of the Bauhaus, a revolutionary German school of arts and crafts established in 1919 and staffed by leading architects, designers, and painters until Hitler closed it in 1933. Bauhaus instruction used crafts as experimental techniques

Strangford Treaty

2005-01-22T17:31:00.000-08:00

(1810), agreement between the Portuguese government, then in exile in its Brazilian colony, and Great Britain, represented by its ambassador, Lord Strangford. The treaty provided for the importation of British manufactures into Brazil and the exportation of Brazilian agricultural produce to Great Britain; also, British naval vessels were allowed to be resupplied in

Kazak Rug

2005-01-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Kazakh Rug, floor covering handmade by seminomadic people of Turkic stock living in the Gäncä district of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan. These handsome rugs in bold designs and colour contrasts continue the spirit of Dragon rugs. The field patterns differ, however, offering triple-medallion schemes and centralized layouts, such as an octagon surrounded by four star-filled

Hwarangdo

2005-01-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

The hwarang warriors played an instrumental

Arab Monetary Fund

2005-01-19T11:18:00.000-08:00

Arabic As-sanduq Al-mali Al-'arabi, fund that aims to assist its participants, nearly all of the members of the Arab League, by developing their capital markets, balancing payment difficulties, and helping with foreign-exchange rates. Established in April 1976, the agreement entered into force in February 1977. During its annual meeting, the board of governors of the fund formulates policy aimed at integrating

Thompson, Edward Herbert

2005-01-18T18:37:00.000-08:00

Though lacking formal training in archaeology, Thompson was an enthusiastic antiquarian. In 1879 he published a paper suggesting that Mayan civilization may have originated

Mura

2005-01-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

South American Indian people of the Amazon tropical forest of western Brazil. The Mura originally inhabited the right bank of the lower Madeira River near the mouth of the Jamari River. Contact with whites led them to adopt guerrilla tactics; they spread downstream to the Purus River, raiding sedentary farmers along the way. By 1774 the Mura expansion had been countered

Cambridge Platform

2005-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

Basic document of New England Congregationalism, prepared in Cambridge, Mass. (U.S.), in 1648. It provided for all the details of church government, including the principle that was basic to Congregationalism, the autonomy of the local congregation. In doctrinal matters, the Cambridge Platform incorporated the Westminster Confession, the creedal statement of Presbyterianism

Elision

2005-01-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

(Latin: “striking out”), in prosody, the slurring or omission of a final unstressed vowel that precedes either another vowel or a weak consonant sound, as in the word heav'n. It may also be the dropping of a consonant between vowels, as in the word o'er for over. Elision is used to fit words into a metrical scheme, to smooth the rhythm of a poem, or to ease the pronunciation of words.

Elijah Ben Solomon

2005-01-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

The best accounts available in English are found in Solomon Schechter, Studies in Judaism, First Series (1896, reissued 1945); and Louis Ginzberg, Students, Scholars, and Saints (1928, reprinted 1985).

Babashoff, Shirley

2005-01-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Babashoff won silver medals in the 100- and 200-metre freestyle events and competed on the gold-medal-winning U.S. team in the 400-metre freestyle relay. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she again

Arabian Desert

2005-01-12T10:34:00.000-08:00

Western Arabia formed part of the African landmass before a rift occurred in the Earth's crust, as a result of which the Red Sea was formed and Africa and the Arabian Peninsula finally became separated some five to six million years ago. Thus, the southern half of the peninsula has a greater affinity with the regions of Somalia and Ethiopia in Africa than with northern

Carmel

2005-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

Also called Carmel-by-the-sea, city, Monterey county, western California, U.S., on the Carmel River and Carmel Bay, adjacent to Monterey. The river was named by the Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno and a group of Carmelite friars in 1602. The nearby Mission San Carlos Borroméo del Río Carmelo was founded in 1770 at Monterey by the Spanish Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra; it was moved to the Carmel area

Locust

2005-01-09T23:53:00.000-08:00

Species of short-horned grasshopper (orthopteran family Acrididae) that often increases greatly in number and migrates long distances in destructive swarms. In Europe the word locust connotes large size; smaller acridids are called grasshoppers. In North America the names locust and grasshopper are used for any acridid. A cicada (order Homoptera) also may be called

Shih Ta-k'ai

2005-01-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Shi Dakai one of the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion, the widespread uprising that gripped South China between 1850 and 1864. The most literate of the Taipings, Shih was an avowed enemy of the alien Ch'ing (Manchu) rulers of China. In the early part of the 20th century, he came to be revered as a hero of the Chinese nationalist

Abacha, Sani

2005-01-06T03:02:00.000-08:00

Nigerian military leader (b. Sept. 20, 1943, Kano, Nigeria--d. June 8, 1998, Abuja, Nigeria), participated in the overthrow of three successive military governments before gaining control of the country himself in 1993. Having entered the army at age 18, Abacha was educated at military schools in Nigeria, England, and the United States and rose to brigadier by 1980. He participated in the ouster of Pres.

Hawaii

2005-01-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

Hawaii was characterized

Aesthetics, The origins of modern aesthetics

2005-01-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

Francis Bacon wrote essays on beauty and deformity, but he confined his remarks to the human figure. René Descartes produced a treatise on music, although it contains little that would be recognized as aesthetics in the modern sense. During the first decades of modern philosophy, aesthetics flourished, not in the works of the great philosophers, but in the writings

Argentina, Domestic politics

2005-01-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

The new governor saw clearly the ambiguities and dangers of such widespread support, and, although he was identified as a federalist, he ruled as a centralist, with Buenos Aires as his main power base. Rosas manipulated factions of labourers, gauchos, and elites from the estancias and set himself up as the arbiter of a delicate and constantly threatened balance between

Graft

2005-01-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

In horticulture, the act of placing a portion of one plant (bud or scion) into or on a stem, root, or branch of another (stock) in such a way that a union will be formed and the partners will continue to grow. This term includes budding (bud grafting) and grafting proper (scion grafting and approach grafting or inarching). Budding and grafting proper differ only in the amount of

Chirac, Jacques

2005-01-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

Chirac, the son of a bank employee, graduated from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris in 1954, served as an officer in the French army in Algeria (1956–57), and earned a graduate degree from the École Nationale d'Administration in 1959. He then became a civil

Pyrobitumen

2004-12-31T21:31:00.000-08:00

Pyrobitumens may be either asphaltic or nonasphaltic. The asphaltic pyrobitumens are derived from petroleum, are relatively hard, and have

Hohokam Culture

2004-12-31T01:09:00.000-08:00

During the Pioneer period the Hohokam lived in villages

League

2004-12-29T22:57:00.000-08:00

Any of several European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (3.9 to 7.4 km). In English-speaking countries the land league is generally accepted as 3 statute miles (4.83 km), although varying lengths from 7,500 feet to 15,000 feet (2.29 to 4.57 km) were sometimes employed. An ancient unit derived from the Gauls and introduced into England by the Normans, the league was estimated by the Romans

Arabia, History Of, Mamluk and Ottoman influence

2004-12-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

Although the Yemeni Rasulids sometimes disputed with the Mamluks the overlordship of the Holy Cities, the Mamluks generally prevailed. Egyptians and Meccans attacked al-Mujahid the Rasulid on a pilgrimage in 1350, and he was held prisoner in Egypt though released later.

Uttar Pradesh

2004-12-28T02:32:00.000-08:00

The most populous state of India. Lying in north-central India, it is bordered by Nepal and the Indian state of Uttaranchal to the north, the Indian states of Haryana and Rajasthan and the union territory of Delhi to the west, the state of Madhya Pradesh to the south, the state of Bihar to the east, and the states of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh to the southeast. Uttar Pradesh extends

France, History Of, The prewar years

2004-12-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

From 1899 to 1905 a fairly coherent coalition of left-wing and centre parties (the so-called Bloc Républicain) provided France with stable government. The Cabinets headed by Waldeck-Rousseau in 1899–1902 and Émile Combes in 1902–1905 managed to liquidate the Dreyfus affair and to carry through the anticlerical reforms that culminated in the separation of church and state. The Entente Cordiale

Price, Leontyne

2004-12-26T06:37:00.000-08:00

Both of Price's grandfathers had been Methodist ministers in black churches in Mississippi, and she sang in her church choir as a girl. Only when she graduated from the College of Education and Industrial Arts (now Central State College) in

Biblical Literature, The patriarchal narratives

2004-12-24T15:05:00.000-08:00

The universal primal history of man in the first 11 chapters of Genesis is followed by an account of the fathers of the Hebrew people; i.e., of the origins of a particular group. From a literary point of view, this portion may be divided into the sagas of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the story of Joseph. Although these narratives are not historical in the ordinary sense, they

Jevons, William Stanley

2004-12-23T04:03:00.000-08:00

English logician and economist whose book The Theory of Political Economy (1871) expounded the “final” (marginal) utility theory of value. Jevons's work, along with similar discoveries made by Karl Menger in Vienna (1871) and by Léon Walras in Switzerland (1874), marked the opening of a new period in the history of economic

Melamine

2004-12-23T03:21:00.000-08:00

Melamine is manufactured by heating dicyandiamide under pressure. Its most important reaction is that with formaldehyde, forming resinous compounds of high molecular weight.

Oak Moss

2004-12-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

(Evernia prunastri), species of fruticose (branched, bushy) lichen valued in perfumery for its heavy, oriental fragrance and as a fixative base. It grows in mountainous areas throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. The pale greenish gray thallus, 3 to 8 cm (1.2 to 3 inches) long, is palmately branched, ending in pointed tips. The upper surface is green and warty with pale gray

Wichita

2004-12-20T02:31:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Sedgwick County, south central Kansas, U.S., on the Arkansas River near the mouth of the Little Arkansas. Founded in 1864 as a trading post on the site of a village of the Wichita Indians, it owed its early development to the Texas cattle trade along the Chisholm Trail and to the rapid spread of agricultural settlement along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway,

Lagrangian Function

2004-12-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

One may think of a physical system, changing as time goes on from one state or configuration to another, as progressing along a particular evolutionary path, and ask, from this

Ory, Kid

2004-12-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

Byname of Edward Ory American trombonist and composer who was perhaps the first musician to codify, purely by precept, the role of the trombone in classic three-part contrapuntal jazz improvisation. Ory is often remembered as a “tailgate” trombonist, one whose style of playing fills in, or supports, other band instruments and is reminiscent of the

Fux, Johann Joseph

2004-12-17T02:55:00.000-08:00

Fux was a prolific composer of vocal and instrumental

Placidia, Aelia Galla

2004-12-16T02:01:00.000-08:00

Captured in Rome when the city fell to the Goths in 410, she was carried off to Gaul and married (414) to the Visigothic chieftain Ataulphus, who was

Spanish Literature, Drama

2004-12-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

With the new century, drama achieved renewed vigour under the stimulus of Jacinto Benavente y Martínez, a prolific playwright noted for his craftsmanship and wit. A social satirist preoccupied with ethics, Benavente stopped short of alienating the sympathies of his devoted upper-class public, as, for example, in Los intereses creados (1907; The Bonds of Interest). The bourgeois

Dadu

2004-12-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

A cotton carder by profession, Dadu became a religious wanderer and preacher, settling for periods of time at Sembhar, Amber, and finally at Naraina, near Jaipur (Rajasthan state), which remains the centre of his following. Dadu rejected the authority of the Vedas (earliest Hindu

Bukhari, Al-

2004-12-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

In full Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Isma'il Al-bukhari one of the greatest Muslim compilers and scholars of Hadith (the recorded corpus of the sayings and acts of the Prophet Muhammad). His chief work is accepted by Sunnite Muslims—i.e., those following the majority tradition—as second only to the Qur'an as both a source of religious law and a sacred

Ancient Rome, Historical sources on early Rome

2004-12-11T04:17:00.000-08:00

The regal period (753–509 BC) and the early republic (509–280 BC) are the most poorly documented periods of Roman history because historical accounts of Rome were not written until much later. Greek historians did not take serious notice of Rome until the Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC), when Rome was completing its conquest of Italy and was fighting against the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy. Rome's

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

2004-12-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

Mauna Loa, located in the south-central

Tyus, Wyomia

2004-12-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Tyus attracted national attention as a high-school runner and as an athlete at Tennessee State University (B.A, 1967). She made her Olympic debut at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, capturing the gold medal in the 100-metre race and

Atar

2004-12-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

Town, west-central Mauritania. It is an oasis and a caravan stopping point and lies on a road leading southwest to Nouakchott, the national capital. The oasis produces dates and grains and supports cattle, sheep, and goat grazing. Atar is the site of an airstrip; it also has a school for traditional weaving, and it is an important source of rugs. Pop. (1977) 16,326; (1988) 21,366.

Poison, Classification based on physical form

2004-12-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

Because solids are generally not well absorbed into the blood, they must be dissolved in the aqueous liquid lining the intestinal tract if ingested or the respiratory tract if inhaled. Solids dissolve at different rates in fluids, however. For example,

Turbine

2004-12-06T02:54:00.000-08:00

Any of various devices that convert the energy in a stream of fluid into mechanical energy. The conversion is generally accomplished by passing the fluid through a system of stationary passages or vanes that alternate with passages consisting of finlike blades attached to a rotor. By arranging the flow so that a tangential force, or torque, is exerted on the rotor

Avestan Language

2004-12-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Also called (incorrectly) Zend Language, eastern Iranian language of the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism. Avestan falls into two strata, the older being that of the Gathas, which reflects a linguistic stage (dating from c. 600 BC) close to that of Vedic Sanskrit in India. The greater part of the Avesta is written in a more recent form of the language and shows gradual simplification and variation in grammatical

Daendels, Herman Willem

2004-12-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

Daendels was a lawyer in his native town; he led the Patriot Movement there against William V of Orange, stadtholder

Azazel

2004-12-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

In Jewish legends, a demon or evil spirit to whom, in the ancient rite of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a scapegoat was sent bearing the sins of the Jewish people. Two male goats were chosen for the ritual, one designated by lots “for the Lord,” the other “for Azazel” (Leviticus 16:8). The ritual was carried out by the high priest in the Second Temple and is described in the Mishna. After

Gwynn, Tony

2004-12-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

U.S. athlete Tony Gwynn declared 1997 his best year in major league baseball. Few would argue with him. The San Diego Padres right fielder won his 8th batting crown, tying Honus Wagner for the National League record (Ty Cobb held the major league mark with 12), and recorded his 5th consecutive season batting .350 or better with an average of .372; his career average (.340) placed him 14th on the all-time

Awaji Island

2004-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Japanese Awaji-shima island, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Japan. The island lies at the eastern end of the Inland Sea, between west-central Honshu and eastern Shikoku. The narrow straits of Akashi (north) and Kii (southeast) separate it from the city of Kobe on Honshu, while Naruto Strait to the southwest, well known for its whirlpools, separates it from Shikoku. Most of the island's area of 229 square miles