MarriedLock

Anorexia

2005-04-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Persistent lack of appetite not caused by repletion. It may spring from psychoneurotic causes, as in anorexia nervosa (q.v.), a lack of appetite, primarily in young women, that may lead to extreme emaciation and even to death. Anorexia, like nausea and vomiting, may be brought about by shock, pain, or an inadequate supply of oxygen to a centre in the medulla oblongata (the part

Dactylorhiza

2005-04-04T02:35:00.000-07:00

All species were formerly included in the genus Dactylorchis. The marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata), elder-flowered

Usumacinta River

2005-04-03T01:17:00.000-08:00

The Usumacinta River flows northwestward, receiving the Lacantum River and forming the border between

Gamow, George

2005-04-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

Original Russian Georgy Antonovich Gamov Russian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big-bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. In addition, his work on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) made a basic contribution

Abel

2005-04-02T06:18:00.000-08:00

In the Old Testament, second son of Adam and Eve, who was slain by his older brother, Cain (Genesis 4:1–16). According to Genesis, Abel, a shepherd, offered the Lord the firstborn of his flock. The Lord respected Abel's sacrifice but did not respect that offered by Cain. In a jealous rage, Cain murdered Abel. Cain then became a fugitive because his brother's innocent blood put a curse

Mime And Pantomime

2005-04-01T21:04:00.000-08:00

Latin mimus and pantomimus , Greek mimos and pantomimos in the strict sense, a Greek and Roman dramatic entertainment representing scenes from life, often in a ridiculous manner. By extension, the mime and pantomime has come to be in modern times the art of portraying a character or a story solely by means of body movement (as by realistic and symbolic gestures). Analogous forms of traditional non-Western theatre are sometimes

Muhammad Shah

2005-03-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

The son of Shah Jahan, Muhammad Shah was made emperor in 1719 by the powerful Sayyid brothers, 'Abdullah and Husayn 'Ali, who had killed the emperor Farrukh-Siyar. In 1720 the assassination of Husayn 'Ali and the defeat of 'Abdullah at the battle of Hasanpur (southwest of Delhi) liberated

Aeroflot

2005-03-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Soviet state airline was founded in 1928 under the name Dobroflot and was reorganized under the name Aeroflot in 1932. Dobroflot, or Dobrovolny Flot, grew out of two former airlines: Dobrolyot, founded in 1923, and Ukvozdukhput, or Ukrainian Airways, founded in 1925. These airlines together connected such

Latin America, History Of, Bureaucratic authoritarianism

2005-03-30T01:50:00.000-08:00

Allende as president combined Marxist assault on the owners of the means of production with populist lavishing of short-term benefits on his working-class followers, and on both counts he stirred violent resentment among upper- and middle-class Chileans as well as attracting the adamant hostility of the United States. In September 1973 he was ousted in favour of General

Diesel Engine

2005-03-29T20:05:00.000-08:00

Any internal-combustion engine in which air is compressed to a temperature sufficiently high to ignite fuel injected into the cylinder, where combustion and expansion actuate a piston. It converts the chemical energy stored in the fuel into mechanical energy, which can be used to power freight trucks, large tractors, locomotives, and vessels. A limited number of

Switzerland

2005-03-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

The history of Switzerland, a complex series of events, provides the background for an understanding of the country's present-day cultural differences. Because of its central location in western Europe and pass routes through the Alps, which linked French and German lands with the Italian peninsula, Switzerland was coveted by surrounding powers. Swiss history,

Terek River

2005-03-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

River that rises in northern Georgia and flows north and then east through Russia to empty into the Caspian Sea. It is one of the main streams draining northward from the Caucasus mountain system. The Terek is 370 miles (600 km) long and drains a basin of 16,900 square miles (43,700 square km). It rises from the glaciers of Mount Kazbek in the main Caucasus range and cuts its way northward through

Pecos River

2005-03-27T03:46:00.000-08:00

River in the southwestern United States, rising in Mora County, north-central New Mexico, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and flowing about 926 miles (1,490 km) through eastern New Mexico and western Texas. It drains about 38,300 square miles (99,200 square km) before emptying into the Rio Grande at the Amistad National Recreation Area. After leaving the mountains, the Pecos flows over desertlike

Van Lew, Elizabeth L.

2005-03-27T00:25:00.000-08:00

Van Lew was the daughter of a prosperous family of Northern antecedents. She was educated in Philadelphia and grew up to hold strong antislavery views. During the 1850s, under her influence,

Alaskan Malamute

2005-03-26T21:44:00.000-08:00

Sled dog developed by the Malemiut, an Eskimo group from which it takes its name. The Alaskan Malamute is a strongly built dog, with a broad head, erect ears, and a plumelike tail carried over its back. Its thick coat is usually gray and white or black and white, the colours frequently forming a caplike or masklike marking on the head. The Alaskan Malamute stands about 23 to

Giresun

2005-03-25T16:42:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Keresun, city and seaport, northeastern Turkey. It lies along the Black Sea about 110 miles (175 km) west of Trabzon. The older parts of the city lie on a peninsula crowned by a ruined Byzantine fortress, sheltering the small natural harbour. Nearby is Giresun Island, in ancient times called Ares. Giresun was known to the ancient Greeks as Choerades or Pharnacia and to the Romans as Kerasous

Papermaking

2005-03-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

The word paper

Straits Question

2005-03-24T06:21:00.000-08:00

The straits were in Turkish territory, but when Russia gained control of the north shore of the

Berengar

2005-03-22T05:46:00.000-08:00

After the fall of the emperor Charles III the Fat, Berengar was elected king of Italy

Sarazen, Gene

2005-03-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

Born to impoverished Italian immigrants, Sarazen began caddying when he was eight.

Economic Geology

2005-03-22T01:48:00.000-08:00

Economic geology deals with metal ores, fossil fuels (e.g., petroleum, natural gas, and coal), and other materials of commercial value, such as salt, gypsum, and building stone. It applies the

Aligarh

2005-03-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Koil or Kol city, west-central Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies southeast of Delhi. The city itself is usually called Koil, or Kol; Aligarh is the name of a nearby fort. The city is an agricultural trade centre; the processing of agricultural products and manufacturing are also important. Aligarh Muslim University (1875) and its affiliated colleges are located there, as are a

Disarmament

2005-03-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

In international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] for the disarmament of Germany and its allies is an example of this conception of disarmament); (2) bilateral disarmament agreements applying to specific geographic areas (naval

Leviathan

2005-03-20T05:48:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Livyatan, in Jewish mythology, a primordial sea serpent. Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal (see Yamm). In the Old Testament, Leviathan appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multiheaded sea serpent that is killed by God and given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness. In Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan is a serpent and a symbol of Israel's

Lewes

2005-03-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

Town (“parish”), Lewes district, administrative county of East Sussex, historic county of Sussex, England. Lewes lies at a gap in the South Downs and along the River Ouse where it is still tidal. A castle was built there in the 11th century, and its ruins still dominate the town, which grew as a market centre and river port of some importance, although the port later gave way to Newhaven

Muir, John

2005-03-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Muir emigrated from Scotland with his family to a farm near Portage, Wis., in 1849. After attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he worked on mechanical inventions,

Kinship, Double unilineal descent

2005-03-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

Double unilineal, or duolineal, descent is very rare. Arguably, a form of double descent exists among groups of Australian Aboriginals, but the most definitive examples are found in Africa. The Yako of Nigeria and the Herero of Namibia and Botswana are best known. The principle of double descent is that two kinds of descent group, patrilineal and matrilineal, exist

Tasmania, Self-government and Federation

2005-03-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Once the importation and exploitation of convicts had ended, the way opened for the grant of colonial self-government in 1855–56. Tasmania became the colony's official name, a portent of a happier age. Yet penalism had given the island an economic undergirding and historical import that have never been matched. Post-1860 Tasmania continued to be shadowed by its Vandiemonian

Aesthetics, Expressionism

2005-03-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

After Kant and Hegel, the most important influence on modern aesthetics has been Croce. His oft-cited Estetica come scienza dell' espressione e linguistica generale (1902; Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistics, or Aesthetic) presents, in a rather novel idiom, some of the important insights underlying the theories of his predecessors. In this work,

Iphigeneia

2005-03-17T03:33:00.000-08:00

Iphigeneia served as a key figure

Subjective Idealism

2005-03-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

A philosophy based on the premise that nothing exists except minds and spirits and their perceptions or ideas. A person experiences material things, but their existence is not independent of the perceiving mind; material things are thus mere perceptions. The reality of the outside world is contingent on a knower. The 18th-century Anglo-Irish philosopher George

Aedui

2005-03-15T09:04:00.000-08:00

Celtic tribe of central Gaul (occupying most of what was later Burgundy), chiefly responsible for the diplomatic situation exploited by Julius Caesar when he began his conquests in that region in 58 BC. The Aedui had been supported by Rome since 121 BC, but they were heavily defeated in about 61 BC by the Sequani and lost their revenue from tolls on the Arar (Saône) River. Appealing to

Cable, George W.

2005-03-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

Cable's first books—Old Creole Days (1879), a collection of stories, and The Grandissimes (1880), a novel—marked Creole New Orleans as his literary province and were widely praised. In these works he sought to recapture the picturesque life of the old French-Spanish

Cacus And Caca

2005-03-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, brother and sister, respectively, originally fire deities of the early Roman settlement on the Palatine Hill, where “Cacus' stairs” were later situated. The Roman poet Virgil described Cacus as the son of the flame god Vulcan and as a monstrous fire-breathing brigand who terrorized the countryside. He stole some of the giant Geryon's cattle from the

Bascom, Florence

2005-03-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

Bascom earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Wisconsin, and she later received the first Ph.D. awarded to a woman at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (1893). Bascom then taught at Ohio State University

Furniture, Rome

2005-03-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

Principal furniture forms were couches, chairs with and without arms, stools, tables, chests, and boxes. Excellent documentary evidence is found in mural paintings, relief carvings, and literary descriptions. Extant examples are more common than those of the ancient Near East: a wealth of bronze furniture was recovered at Pompeii; at Herculaneum even wood pieces

Saarland

2005-03-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

A well-developed educational system includes a series of technical high schools and the University of the Saarland at Saarbrücken. Cultural institutions—including the City Theatre, Radio Saarland, and the Modern Gallery of Saarbrücken—draw support from both Germany and France. There are a dozen museums and galleries and a large number of singing, musical, and

Dagestan Rug

2005-03-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Dagestan rugs are relatively finely woven, with short pile in wool, the warp being of wool and the weft frequently of cotton. Their designs are highly geometric and fragmented, producing the effect of brightly coloured mosaics. There is a wide diversity of patterns,

Hale Telescope

2005-03-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

In full George Ellery Hale Telescope, one of the world's largest and most powerful reflecting telescopes, located at the Palomar Observatory, Mount Palomar, Calif. Having a diameter of 5 m (200 inches), it is second only to the 6-metre (236-inch) reflector of the Special Astrophysical Observatory, Zelenchukskaya, Russia. Financed by the Rockefeller Foundation, the telescope at Palomar was completed in 1948 and named in honour

Benda, Frantiek

2005-03-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

The eldest son of Jan Jirí Benda and his wife Dorota Brixi, both talented musicians, Benda studied under Johann Gottlieb Graun and joined the orchestra of Frederick II the Great (then crown prince). On Frederick's accession (1740) to the Prussian

Switzerland, The impact of the French Revolution

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

In spite of economic expansion, Switzerland's political institutions were poorly prepared to meet the violent forces set loose by the French Revolution. The 13 cantons of the Helvetic Association had no central government; each had its own army; religious antagonisms still existed; the rural cantons were suspicious of the towns; and the small cantons were jealous

Hank

2005-03-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

In textile manufacture, unit of measure applied to a length of yarn or to a loose assemblage of fibres forming a single strand, and varying according to the fibre origin. A hank of cotton or of the spun silk made from short lengths of waste silk is 840 yards (770 m) long. A hank of linen is 300 yards (270 m). In worsted yarn, made from combed fibre, there are 560 yards (510 m) to a hank.

Backhaus, Wilhelm

2005-03-09T02:20:00.000-08:00

Backhaus studied piano in Leipzig and in Frankfurt am Main. His first concert appearance took place when he was eight years of age, and in 1905 he won the Rubinstein prize in Paris. He held teaching appointments at the Royal Manchester College

Acropolites, George

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

Acropolites was reared at the imperial court, then at Nicaea in Asia

Yodel

2005-03-08T01:53:00.000-08:00

Type of singing in which high falsetto and low chest notes are rapidly alternated; its production is helped by the enunciation of open and closed vowels on the low and high notes of wide intervals. Yodeling is also used as a means of communicating over moderate distances by the inhabitants of mountainous regions. It is associated with the Alpine peoples of Switzerland

Ear, Human, Tympanic membrane

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

The thin, semitransparent tympanic membrane, or eardrum, which forms the boundary between the outer and middle ear, is stretched obliquely across the end of the external canal. Its diameter is about 9 millimetres (0.35 inch), its shape that of a flattened cone with its apex directed inward. Thus, its outer surface is slightly concave. The edge of the membrane is thickened and

Kahr, Gustav, Ritter Von

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

Kahr was appointed provincial governor of Upper Bavaria in 1917. Shortly after the abortive Kapp Putsch against the Weimar Republic in March 1920, Kahr

Mode

2005-03-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

The modes of Greek antiquity were placed by theorists in orderly fashion within a larger context. Although the modes were a series of seven-note diatonic scales (i.e., containing five whole tones and two semitones), the nucleus of the tone system was the tetrachord—a group of four consecutive notes (as, from C to F on the piano) comprising the interval of a fourth. Except in

Kikuchi Kan

2005-03-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

As a student at the First Higher School in Tokyo, Kikuchi became acquainted with the future novelists Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Kume Masao. Later, while attending Kyoto Imperial University, he worked with them on the literary magazine Shinshicho (“New

Kiesinger, Kurt Georg

2005-03-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

Kiesinger was educated at Berlin and Tübingen, after which he began to practice law. He joined the Nazi Party after Adolf

Lut Desert

2005-03-05T04:17:00.000-08:00

Persian Dasht-e Lut, also spelled Dasht-i Lut, desert in eastern Iran. It stretches about 200 miles (320 km) from northwest to southeast and is about 100 miles wide. In the east a great massif of dunes and sand rises, while in the west an extensive area of high ridges is separated by wind-swept corridors. In its lowest, salt-filled depression—less than 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level—the summer heat and low humidity are believed to be unsurpassed

Jannings, Emil

2005-03-05T00:33:00.000-08:00

Jannings was reared in Görlitz, Austria, where he began his stage career. He joined a traveling stock company and in 1906 began acting for Max Reinhardt, the leading German theatrical director, in Berlin. He made his film

Acciaiuoli, Niccolò

2005-03-04T03:20:00.000-08:00

Of a prominent and wealthy Florentine family, Acciaiuoli went to Naples in 1331 to direct the family's banking interests. In 1335 King Robert made him a knight, entrusted him with the care of his nephew Louis of Taranto, and

Sardana

2005-03-04T00:59:00.000-08:00

Communal dance intimately bound up with Catalan national consciousness. It is danced by men and women who join hands alternately in a closed circle. As they dance to the music of tenores and tabales (shawms and small drums), their faces remain solemn and dignified. The basic pattern of the sardana is a series of long (llarg) and short (curt) steps; the precise combination

Basilan

2005-03-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

Island and city, southern Philippines, in the Celebes Sea. Basilan island lies 5 miles (8 km) off the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula of Mindanao, across the Basilan Strait. With an area of 495 square miles (1,282 square km), it is the largest and northernmost island of the Sulu Archipelago. Most of the island consists of rugged or rolling forested uplands, with several volcanic

Eagles, The, Don Henley

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

Themis

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

(Greek: Order), in Greek religion, personification of justice, goddess of wisdom and good counsel, and the interpreter of the gods' will. According to some sources, she was the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), although at times she was apparently identified with Gaea. She was Zeus's second consort and by him the mother of the Horae (see Hora), the Moirai, and, in some traditions,

Mahdiyah, Al-

2005-03-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mahdia, or Mahedia, town and fishing port on as-Sahil (coastal strip), eastern Tunisia. It lies on the narrow rocky peninsula of Cape Ifriqiya. The town owes its name to the mahdi (Arabic: mahdi, “the rightly guided one”) 'Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, founder of the Fatimid dynasty, who established the town in 912 and in 921 made it his capital. Abandoned about 973, al-Mahdiyah was reestablished as a refuge capital of the Zirid

Anderson, Marian

2005-03-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

U.S. singer (b. Feb. 27, 1897, Philadelphia, Pa.--d. April 8, 1993, Portland, Ore.), maintained a quiet dignity while transcending the racial and cultural barriers imposed on her artistry and used her rich contralto voice brilliantly to interpret the works of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, Verdi, and Richard Strauss as well as spirituals. Though Anderson's birth certificate stated that

Dehri

2005-02-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

City, western Bihar state, northeastern India, west of the Son River. It has major road and rail connections and houses railway workshops. Dehri is the headworks of the Son canal system and the site of a hydroelectric dam. Its industries include sugar production, sawmilling, ghee processing, and varied manufactures. Nearby, on the Son, lies the ancient Rohtas fortress. Pop.

House Sparrow

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

Also called English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), one of the world's best-known and most abundant small birds, sometimes classified in the family Ploceidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes) or separated as Passeridae. It lives in towns and on farms, worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original home—most of Eurasia and northern Africa. It was introduced into North America

Hull, Isaac

2005-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Already having been master of a ship at age 19, Hull was commissioned a lieutenant aboard

Pugachov, Yemelyan Ivanovich

2005-02-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

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

Harsch, Joseph Close

2005-02-26T17:03:00.000-08:00

American newspaper and broadcast journalist who, during his 60-year career with The Christian Science Monitor, was noted for his presence at many of the period's most historic events and for his vivid reporting of those events; Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary C.B.E. in 1965 (b. May 25, 1905, Toledo, Ohio--d. June 3, 1998, Jamestown, R.I.).

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess And 8th Earl Of, Lord Campbell, Lord Lorne, Lord Of Kintyre

2005-02-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of Archibald, 7th Earl of Argyll, and took over the management of the family estates in 1619 after his father had

Murad Iii

2005-02-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (now Fès, Mor.) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought an exhausting war against

Seleucus I Nicator

2005-02-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Macedonian army officer, founder of the Seleucid kingdom. In the struggles following the death of Alexander the Great, he rose from governor of Babylon to king of an empire centring on Syria and Iran.

Saaremaa

2005-02-24T04:46:00.000-08:00

German and Swedish Ösel , Russian Sarema largest of the islands in the Muhu archipelago that divides the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga. It constitutes the bulk of the Estonian county of Saaremaa (Saare) and has an area of 1,032 square miles (2,674 square km). The island is low-lying and is composed largely of limestones and dolomites. Some of the places with poorer soils are characterized by the alvary—poor bushy vegetation,

Multinational And Regional Organizations

2005-02-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

Nontraditional threats to security and terrorism dominated the agendas of many multinational and regional organizations in 2002. At a special ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in May, members focused on enhancing law enforcement and other cooperation. In August they pledged to work with the United States in combating terrorism.

Udaipur

2005-02-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Udaypur, city, southern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It lies in the hills of the Aravali Range. Udaipur (“City of Sunrise”) was made the capital of the princely state of Udaipur in 1568 by Maharana Udai Singh after the sack of Chittaurgarh. A walled city, it stands on a ridge crowned by the Maharana's palace, which was begun in 1570. To the west lies Lake Pichola with its two small islands and marble

Quantz, Johann Joachim

2005-02-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

Quantz obtained posts at Radeberg and Dresden and in 1717 studied counterpoint in Vienna with Johann Zelenka and Johann Fux. In 1718 he became oboist in the Polish court

Puerto Montt

2005-02-22T09:55:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1853, the settlement was named for Manuel Montt, then president of Chile. Early German settlers have given it a distinctive appearance. Puerto Montt is a commercial centre for an agricultural

Ambler, Eric

2005-02-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ambler was the son of music-hall entertainers. After studying engineering at London University, he worked as an advertising writer. It was while thus employed that he completed his first novel, The Dark

Alipur Duar

2005-02-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

City, northeastern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just north of the Kalyani River. Connected by road with Jalpaiguri, the city is an important market centre for rice, tobacco, and jute; an annual agricultural produce and stock fair is held there. Rice milling is an important industry. Alipur Duar was declared a municipality in 1951. Pop. (1991) 65,421.

Kunlun Mountains, Plant and animal life

2005-02-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

The desert or, at best, steppe conditions prevailing throughout the Kunluns inhibit development of vegetation. Much of the terrain consists of rock deserts. Occasional stagnant water pools provide browsing and water for several wild ungulates, such as the Tibetan gazelle and Tibetan goat antelope (chiru), along with large herds of wild asses (kiang) and clusters

Integration

2005-02-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

With a and b called the limits of integration, is

Qian Zhongshu

2005-02-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

Qian attended missionary schools in Su-chou and Wu-hsi while receiving English and classical Chinese training under the tutelage of his father, Qian Jibo. A student of the Department of

Burbidge, (eleanor) Margaret

2005-02-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

Burbidge served as assistant director (1948–50) and acting director

Walker, Alice

2005-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Walker was the eighth child of African American sharecroppers. While growing up she was accidentally blinded in one eye, and her mother gave her a typewriter,

Biblical Literature, III Baruch

2005-02-18T11:13:00.000-08:00

Apocalyptic literature was much concerned about sources of information about the heavenly world and about the places of the damned and saved souls. In later Jewish and early Christian apocalypses, in which the hero undertakes a heavenly trip and sees the secrets that are hidden from others, these sources of information are highly significant. III Baruch, a book

Bel Fruit

2005-02-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

Bel also spelled Bael, also called Bengal Quince (species Aegle marmelos), fruit of the bel tree of the family Rutaceae, found wild or cultivated throughout India. The trees bear strong spines; alternate, compound leaves, each with three leaflets; and panicles of sweet-scented white flowers. The tree is valued for its fruit, which is oblong to pyriform in shape and 50–250 mm (2–10 inches) in diameter. The fruit has a gray or yellow rind

Basil I

2005-02-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

Basil came of a peasant family that had settled in Macedonia, perhaps of Armenian origin. He was a handsome and physically powerful man who gained employment in influential official circles in Constantinople and was fortunate

Instinct, Modifiable action patterns

2005-02-16T06:20:00.000-08:00

Some types of instinctive behaviour, while showing a rigid core of fixed action pattern, are still modifiable by conditioning and other learning processes (see above). A good example is provided by the nest-building behaviour of many birds: after the breeding female has chosen a nest site, she finds and deposits sticks or twigs or pieces of grass there. A jackdaw (Corvus

Vacuum Technology

2005-02-16T00:22:00.000-08:00

Capacities are available up to 14,000 cu ft per minute, with an operating pressure range of 10-2 torr to below 10-11 torr. The full speed of the pump is developed in the pressure range from about 10-6 to 10-8 torr, although the characteristic at the lower pressure is dependent on pump design. This pump makes use of the sputtering principle, in which a cathode material such as titanium is

Vitale Da Bologna,

2005-02-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

The first official record of Vitale was in Bologna, where he painted the Odofredi Chapel in the Church of San Francesco. During this period he is credited with painting the “Last Supper” (1340; Pinacoteca, Bologna)

Hexachloroplatinic Acid

2005-02-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

Also called Chloroplatinic Acid, complex compound formed by dissolving platinum metal in aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids) or in hydrochloric acid that contains chlorine. It is crystallized from the solution in the form of reddish brown deliquescent (moisture-absorbing) crystals with specific gravity 2.43 and melting point 60° C (140° F). It is the starting material from which most platinum

Southwest National Park

2005-02-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Marked by rugged terrain and a cold, wet

Kidderminster

2005-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

Town, Wyre Forest district, administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated along the River Stour and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Recorded as Stour-in-Usmere in 736 CE, it was given to the comes (count) Cyneberght by King Aethelbald (reigned 716–757). Later it passed to the bishop of Worcester and thence to Cenwulf, king of Mercia (816), and it

Ovulation

2005-02-13T06:32:00.000-08:00

Release of a mature egg from the female ovary; the release enables the egg to be fertilized by the male sperm cells. Normally, in humans, only one egg is released at one time; occasionally, two or more erupt during the menstrual cycle. The egg erupts from the ovary on the 14th to 16th day of the approximately 28-day menstrual cycle. If not fertilized, the egg is passed from the reproductive

Basil The Great, Saint

2005-02-12T19:43:00.000-08:00

Latin Basilius early Church Father who defended the orthodox faith against the heretical Arians. As bishop of Caesarea he wrote several works on monasticism, theology, and canon law. He was declared a saint soon after his death.

Tigre

2005-02-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

The partido is bordered to the north by an important branch of the Paraná River, the

Priesthood, Ancient Greece and Rome

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

The ancient Greeks were devoid of hierarchical institutions composed of men and women through whom the gods were approached, though priests and priestesses could be found in many places engaging in specific sacerdotal functions and ritual acts. Some of them attained considerable social and civic prestige and importance and were attached to particular temples

Peruzzi, Baldassarre (tommaso)

2005-02-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

A contemporary of Raphael and Donato Bramante, Peruzzi began his career as a painter of frescoes in the Cappella San Giovanni in Siena Cathedral.

Kaunda, Kenneth

2005-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Kaunda's father, who was from Nyasaland (now Malawi), was a schoolteacher; his mother, also a teacher, was the first African woman to teach in colonial Zambia. Both taught among the Bemba tribe in northern Zambia, where young Kaunda

Awacs

2005-02-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Airborne Warning And Control System, a mobile, long-range radar surveillance and control centre for air defense. The system, as developed by the U.S. Air Force, is mounted in a specially modified Boeing 707 aircraft. Its main radar antenna is mounted on a turntable housed in a circular rotodome 9 m (30 feet) in diameter, elliptical in cross-section, and 1.8 m deep at its centre. The radar system can detect, track, and identify

Great Rift

2005-02-09T13:46:00.000-08:00

In astronomy, a complex of dark nebulae that seems to divide the bright clouds of the Milky Way Galaxy lengthwise through about one-third of their extent. From the constellation Cygnus, the rift reaches through Aquila and Sagittarius, where the centre of the Galaxy lies hidden behind it, to Centaurus. The clouds of dark material making up the Great Rift are several

Godard, Benjamin (-louis-paul)

2005-02-09T02:18:00.000-08:00

Godard was a child prodigy on the violin, studied composition, and in his youth composed symphonies, chamber works, concerti, and piano music. His best-known opera, Jocelyn (1881), is remembered for its famous “Berceuse.” Other works included the operas Pédro de Zalaméa (1884) and La Vivandière (1895) and his Symphonie

Tigon

2005-02-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Offspring of a tiger and a lioness. The tigon, or tiglon, is a zoo-bred hybrid, as is the liger, the product of the reverse mating of a lion with a tigress.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

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

Major American diversified company with core business concentrations in aerospace products—including aircraft, space launchers, satellites, and defense systems—and other advanced-technology systems and services. About half of the company's annual sales are to the U.S. Department of Defense. Lockheed Martin is also a leading contractor for the U.S. Department

Albanian Language

2005-02-07T23:25:00.000-08:00

The origins of