SameWood

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2007-02-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

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Devaluation

2005-04-05T04:11:00.000-07:00

Reduction in the exchange value of a country's monetary unit in terms of gold, silver, or foreign monetary units. Devaluation is employed to eliminate persistent balance-of-payments deficits, because devaluation has the effect of decreasing prices of the home country's exports in terms of the importer's currency and, at the same time, increasing prices of imports

Abbot, Charles Greeley

2005-04-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

An informal autobiography is provided by Charles Greeley Abbot, Adventures in the World of Science (1958). David H. DeVorkin, “Charles Greeley Abbot,” in Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 73, pp. 3–23 (1998), is a short biography; and David H. DeVorkin, “Defending a Dream: Charles Greeley Abbot's Years at the Smithsonian,” Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 21, part 1, no. 63, pp. 121–136 (February 1990), discusses Abbot's influence on the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Ascites

2005-03-31T21:14:00.000-08:00

Accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, between the membrane lining the abdominal wall and the membrane covering the abdominal organs. The most common causes of ascites are cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure, tumours of the peritoneal membranes, and escape of chyle (lymph laden with emulsified fats) into the peritoneal cavity. In patients having liver

Hippo

2005-03-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hippo, later called Hippo Regius, located near the modern town of Annaba (formerly Bône) in Algeria, was probably first settled by Carthaginians in the 4th century BC. It later became the home of Numidian rulers. Under Roman control it was first made a municipium (a community that exercised partial rights of Roman citizenship)

Timur Ruby

2005-03-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

Jewel that is in fact not a ruby but one of the world's largest polished red magnesia spinels (see ruby spinel). The unfaceted, 361-carat stone is set in the imperial state crown of England. It is inscribed with the names and dates of six of its owners. The earliest is Shah Jahangir, 1612, and the latest is Ahmad Shah Durrani, 1754.

Furniture, Inlay and marquetry

2005-03-25T01:46:00.000-08:00

Inlaid woodwork, in which decorative material such as wood or ivory is set into the surface of the veneer, has accompanied the art of furniture making for thousands of years. Ivory inlay can be seen in Egyptian furniture, particularly in small, meticulously executed toilet caskets, but it is difficult to locate in Greek and Roman furniture, today known almost exclusively

Durbar

2005-03-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

The three best-known durbars were held in Delhi in 1877, 1903, and 1911. They celebrated Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of Empress

Nicaragua, Flag Of

2005-03-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

Independence for Central America was first proclaimed on September 15, 1821, but Mexico then subdued the area for two years. The flag of the newly independent United Provinces of Central America was adopted on August 21, 1823, and consisted of blue-white-blue stripes with the national coat of arms in the centre. Those arms included basically the same design elements Nicaragua uses

Polestar

2005-03-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

Also spelled pole star , also called (Northern Hemisphere) North Star the brightest star that appears nearest to either celestial pole at any particular time. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the position of each pole describes a small circle in the sky over a period of 25,800 years. Each of a succession of stars has thus passed near enough to the north celestial pole to serve as the polestar. At present the polestar is Polaris; Thuban

Biblical Literature, The Babylonian Exile and the restoration

2005-03-19T00:41:00.000-08:00

The Babylonian Exile (586–538) marks an epochal dividing point in Old Testament history, standing between what were subsequently to be designated the pre-exilic and post-exilic eras. The Judahite community in Babylonia was, on the whole, more Yahwist in religion than ever, following the Mosaic Law, emphasizing and redefining such distinctive elements as circumcision and

Nordau, Max

2005-03-17T09:48:00.000-08:00

In 1880, after serving as Viennese correspondent for a Budapest newspaper and traveling extensively in Europe, Nordau settled permanently in Paris,

Chebyshev, Pafnuty Lvovich

2005-03-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Chebyshev became assistant professor of mathematics at the University of St. Petersburg (now St.

Moravian Church

2005-03-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Protestant church founded in the 18th century but tracing its origin to the Unitas Fratrum (“Unity of Brethren”) of the 15th-century Hussite movement in Bohemia and Moravia.

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke Of, Earl Of Surrey, Earl Marshal

2005-03-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

He was the son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who was put to death for alleged treasonable activities in 1547. Restored to his father's title on the accession of Queen Mary

Andalusia

2005-03-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Andalusia possesses the most varied terrain and vegetation in all Spain. Striking contrasts exist between alpine mountains and pine forests at high elevations, arid and barren deserts, and fertile irrigated plains that support plantations of subtropical fruits. The topography of Andalusia is divided by mountain ranges into several distinct zones, each running

Actinium Series

2005-03-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

Set of unstable heavy nuclei constituting one of the four radioactive series (q.v.).

Themba, Can

2005-03-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Fort Hare, S.Af., Themba worked as a reporter and later editor on the magazine Drum

Argentina, Confederation under Rosas, 182952

2005-03-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

The regime of Rosas in Buenos Aires enjoyed far broader support than any of its predecessors. Special interest groups, landholders, and export-import merchants (along with the British diplomatic contingent that was identified with these interests) all fell behind the new governor. Practically all the influential sectors in the province identified Rosas's triumph

Theodosius I

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

In 379 and 380 Theodosius resided chiefly in Thessalonica. He sought first to rebuild the army, the discipline of which was considerably impaired, and to consolidate Rome's position on the Balkan peninsula. Military unpreparedness could not be overcome by conscription alone, which applied only to certain classes. Theodosius therefore directed that large numbers of

Vodou

2005-03-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun , or French Vaudou an official religion of Haiti (together with Roman Catholicism). Vodou is a creolized religion forged by descendents of Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other African ethnic groups who had been enslaved and brought to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then) and Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. The word Vodou means “spirit

Bona Dea

2005-03-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

(Latin: “Good Goddess”), in Roman religion, deity of fruitfulness, both in the earth and in women. She was identified with various goddesses who had similar functions. The dedication day of her temple on the Aventine was May 1. Her temple was cared for and attended by women only, and the same was the case at a second celebration, at the beginning of December, in the house of a sovereign

Chilpancingo, Congress Of

2005-03-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

(September–November 1813), meeting held at Chilpancingo, in present Guerrero state, Mex., that declared the independence of Mexico from Spain and drafted a constitution, which received final approval (Oct. 22, 1814) at the Congress of Apatzingán. José María Morelos y Pavón, who called the congress at Chilpancingo, had assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after

Bharhut Sculpture

2005-03-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

The Bharhut style, though at times archaic and primitive in its conception, marks the beginnings of a tradition

Pre-columbian Civilizations, The Spanish conquest

2005-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, the Spaniards had landed at Tumbes on the northern coast of Peru early in 1532 and were seeking an interview with Atahuallpa so that they could kidnap him. It is clear that they understood the nature of the Inca civil war and were dealing with emissaries from both factions. Their actions, however, must have seemed puzzling to Atahuallpa. On the one hand, Pizarro

Zedillo, Ernesto

2005-03-01T13:57:00.000-08:00

Reared in a working-class family in Mexicali, Mexico, just south of the California border, Zedillo returned to his native Mexico City in 1965 to study at the National Polytechnic Institute. In 1971 he joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the dominant political party in Mexico since 1929. Zedillo also studied

Ovary

2005-02-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

In zoology, female reproductive organ in which sex cells (eggs or ova) are produced. The usually paired ovaries of female vertebrates produce both the sex cells and the hormones necessary for reproduction. In some invertebrate groups such as coelenterates, formation of ovaries is associated with the seasons. Many invertebrates

Abu Muslim

2005-02-26T02:38:00.000-08:00

There are numerous versions of Abu Muslim's background, but it seems most likely that he was descended from a slave of Persian origin and was therefore a mawali (non-Arab

Hadi, Sayyid Shaykh Bin Ahmad, Al-

2005-02-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

Taken when young to Pulau Penyengat, Riau (now in Indonesia), Sayyid Shaykh was adopted there by a half brother of the sultan and brought up in the intellectual

Tasmania, Transportation

2005-02-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

Given its island setting and dispersed development, transportation, both internal and external, is especially important to Tasmania. The settled areas have a good network of roads with the highest density of roads per square mile of any Australian state. In 1975 control of the state's railways was transferred to the federal government, and in 1978 regular passenger services

Pavía Y Rodríguez De Alburquerque, Manuel

2005-02-23T23:57:00.000-08:00

In 1865 Pavía joined the staff of Gen. Juan Prim, whom he supported in the unsuccessful uprisings of 1866 and, after two years in exile, in the successful revolution of 1868 that deposed Isabella II (1833–68). After the abdication of Amadeus (February 1873) and the proclamation of the First Republic, Pavía suppressed

France, History Of, Loss of political freedom

2005-02-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Politics during the Directory had been marked by an unwholesome combination of ferocious partisanship and massive apathy. Weary of political turmoil and disillusioned by politicians of all kinds, most Frenchmen now accepted the disappearance of political freedom and participation with equanimity. The few who still cared passionately enough to resist collided

Reformed League

2005-02-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

The Reformed League founded religious journals and institutions for the education

Andersen, Hans Christian

2005-02-21T03:13:00.000-08:00

Unique master of the fairy tale whose stories are famous throughout the world; he is also the author of plays, novels, poems, travel books, and several autobiographies. While many of these works are almost unknown outside Denmark, his fairy tales are among the most frequently translated works in all literary

Swabian Alp

2005-02-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

German Swäbische Alb, continuation of the Jura Mountains in Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. The upland plateau extends approximately 100 miles (160 km) from the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) to the Wörnitz River at an average elevation of about 2,300 feet (700 m). The plateau rises in a steep northwestern scarp some 1,300 feet (400 m) above the valleys of the Neckar, Rems, and Fils rivers to its highest

Ashikaga Takauji

2005-02-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

The Ashikaga family became one of the most powerful in Japan during the Kamakura period (1199–1333). They provided leading retainers of the Hojo regents who, with their capital at Kamakura, dominated the country during that time,

Hand Tool, Ax and adz

2005-02-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

The ax and adz are similar enough to be considered together. This is especially the case with ancient tools that were small and ineffective because they were made of brittle stone or had unsatisfactory hafting. The difference between the tools lies in the relation of the cutting edge to the handle. In the ax the cutting edge and handle are parallel, whereas in the adz

Biblical Literature, Analogical interpretation

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

Analogical interpretation traditionally includes not only interpretation according to the analogy of Scripture (parallelism, in other words) but also interpretation according to the “analogy of faith”—an expression that misapplies the language of Rom. 12:6 in the King James Version of 1611. It has at times been pressed to mean that no biblical interpretation is valid unless

Trailing Arbutus

2005-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Ground Laurel, Winter Pink, or Mayflower (species Epigaea repens), trailing plant of the heath family (Ericaceae), native to sandy or boggy, acid woodlands of eastern North America. It has oblong, hairy evergreen leaves 2–6 cm (0.75–2.5 inches) long. The highly fragrant white, pink, or rosy flowers have a five-lobed corolla (the petals, collectively) and grow in dense clusters. Trailing arbutus grows in shady wildflower

Altair

2005-02-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

Also called Alpha Aquilae one of the 15 brightest stars, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.77. Its distance from the Earth is about 16 light-years. It is a hot white star somewhat larger and more massive than the Sun and giving out about 10 times as much light. The name probably derives from Arabic words meaning “the eagle,” applied to the constellation.

Smith, Gerrit

2005-02-13T05:08:00.000-08:00

Smith was born into a wealthy family. In about 1828 he became an active worker in the cause of temperance, and in his home village, Peterboro, he built one of the first temperance hotels in the country. He became

Furniture, France

2005-02-13T01:58:00.000-08:00

The furniture of France was among the first to be influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Louis XII and many of his court visited Italy and soon took Italian artists and craftsmen and works of art into France. The French Renaissance of furniture can be divided into two stages. First was a period of transition and adaptation; during the reign of Louis XII and the first

Ascanius

2005-02-11T05:27:00.000-08:00

In Roman legend, son of the hero Aeneas and traditional founder of Alba Longa, probably the site of the modern Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. In different versions, Ascanius is placed variously in time. Those set earlier cite the Trojan Creusa as his mother. After the fall of Troy, Ascanius and Aeneas escaped to Italy, where Aeneas subsequently founded Lavinium, the parent

Yeshiva University

2005-02-10T04:16:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in New York, New York, U.S. It is a comprehensive research university comprising six undergraduate schools and seven graduate or professional schools at the Main Campus in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, the Midtown Center in Manhattan's Murray Hill area, the Brookdale Center on Fifth Avenue in

Crocodile

2005-02-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

The

Wa

2005-02-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Lawa, Va, Hkawa, Kawa, or Kala, hill-dwelling peoples of eastern Myanmar (Burma), where they are generally called Lawa, and southwestern Yunnan province of China, where they are generally called Va, or Wa. They speak an Austro-Asiatic language related to Mon-Khmer. The pagan, or “wild,” Wa are concentrated in the isolated northern and central Wa states of Myanmar; they are known as headhunters who believe

Hawk Owl

2005-02-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

The northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula) is approximately 40 cm (about 16 inches) long. Its tail is long, and its wings are short and pointed like those of a hawk. The facial disk of the northern hawk owl does not extend above the eyes, and it has no ear tufts. It feeds on small mammals, birds, and insects, hunting during

Narayan, R.k.

2005-02-06T05:40:00.000-08:00

Reared by his grandmother, Narayan completed his education in 1930 and briefly worked as a teacher before deciding to devote himself to writing. His first novel, Swami and Friends (1935), is an episodic narrative recounting the adventures of a group of schoolboys.

Baltic States, Climate

2005-02-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Over most of the region, annual rainfall varies between 22 and 28 inches (550 and 700 millimetres) and generally increases from the coastal zone to the upland districts of the interior. The prevailing temperatures are moderate by the standards of European Russia and in general improve from north to south and from east to west across the Baltic region. January mean temperatures

Tsuzumi

2005-02-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

Any of various Japanese two-headed drums with hourglass-shaped (waisted) bodies. Ancient Japanese court orchestra music had three types of these drums, of which only the san no tsuzumi form survives in komagaku style (courtly music of Japanese, Korean, and other non-Chinese, non-Indian ancestry). Better-known tsuzumi are found in the music of No and Kabuki theatres. The

Obscenity

2005-02-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

In most

Amrouche, Jean

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

As a young man, Amrouche published Cendres (1934; “Cinders

Chile, Political stagnation, 195264

2005-02-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

Various conditions explain the victory in 1952 of the former dictator Gen. Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Under Radical rule the middle class had affirmed its political importance without injuring the economic power of the landed oligarchy, but the lower classes fell farther behind the middle and upper strata. In 1949 the vote was granted to women, and the electorate thus expanded

Breeder Reactor

2005-02-01T11:13:00.000-08:00

Nuclear reactor that produces more fissionable material than it consumes to generate energy. This special type of reactor is designed to extend the nuclear fuel supply for electric power generation. Whereas a conventional nuclear reactor (q.v.) can use only the readily fissionable but scarce isotope uranium-235 for fuel, a breeder reactor employs either uranium-238 or

Medicine, China

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

Health services in China since the Cultural Revolution have been characterized by decentralization and dependence on personnel chosen locally and trained for short periods. Emphasis is given to selfless motivation, self-reliance, and to the involvement of everyone in the community. Campaigns stressing the importance of preventive measures and their implementation

Monastery

2005-01-30T16:10:00.000-08:00

Local community or residence of a religious order, particularly an order of monks. See abbey; monasticism.

Anthony Of Padua, Saint

2005-01-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

Raphael M. Huber, St. Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church Universal (1948); Mabel A. Farnum, Saint Anthony of Padua: His Life and Miracles (1948); Sophronius Clasen, St. Anthony, Doctor of the Gospel (1961, reissued as St. Anthony, Doctor of the Church, 1987).

Sabine, Wallace Clement (ware)

2005-01-27T23:52:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Ohio State University in 1886, Sabine did graduate work at Harvard University, where he later joined the faculty. A brilliant researcher, he enjoyed teaching and never bothered to get his doctorate; his papers were modest in number but exceptional

Cypress

2005-01-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

Any of about 20 species of ornamental and timber evergreen conifers constituting the genus Cupressus of the family Cupressaceae, distributed throughout warm-temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Many resinous, aromatic evergreen trees called cypress belong to other genera of the same family, especially

Clampett, Robert

2005-01-26T02:57:00.000-08:00

Clampett joined Leon Schlesinger's fledgling animation unit on the Warner Bros. lot in 1933. In 1936 he became part of director Tex Avery's innovative animation team, where the youthful energy, zany humour, and iconoclastic

Saxo Grammaticus

2005-01-25T05:32:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Saxo's life except that he was a Zealander belonging to a family of warriors and was probably a clerk in the service of Absalon, archbishop of Lund from 1178 to 1201. Saxo is

Christian Ix

2005-01-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

Christian was the son of Duke William of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (and after 1825 Duke of Glücksburg). He entered the Danish army in 1835, serving in the Schleswig

Huila

2005-01-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

Departamento, southwestern Colombia, occupying the Andean Cordilleras (mountains) Oriental and Central, which are separated by the upper Magdalena River valley. Created in 1905, it was named for the snowcapped mountain Nevado del Huila (17,844 feet [5,439 m]), which dominates much of the landscape. Since colonial times, this part of the upper Magdalena valley has been mostly a livestock-raising

Forché, Carolyn

2005-01-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Forché was educated at Michigan State (B.A., 1972) and Bowling Green State (M.F.A., 1975) universities. Thereafter she taught at a number of colleges and universities. Her first collection

Cabot, John

2005-01-19T00:54:00.000-08:00

Cabot's voyages are treated specifically in James A. Williamson, The Voyages of the Cabots and the English Discovery of North America (1929, reprinted 1971), and The Cabot Voyages and Bristol Discovery Under Henry VII (1962, reprinted 1986); while David B. Quinn, England and the Discovery of America, 1481–1620 (1973); and Samuel Eliot Morison, The European Discovery of America, vol. 1 (1971, reissued 1993), place the voyages in the broader historical context.

China, Clashes with foreigners

2005-01-18T14:29:00.000-08:00

On May 30, 1925, patriotic students, engaged in an anti-imperialist demonstration in Shanghai, clashed with foreign police. The British captain in charge ordered the police to fire upon a crowd that he believed was about to rush his station. Some 12 Chinese were killed in the May Thirtieth Incident, including students. This aroused a nationwide protest and set off a protracted

Ay

2005-01-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Ay began his career either owing to his prestige as a son of the parents of Queen Tiy, wife of Amenhotep III, or else with the aid of his own wife, who was the nurse of Nefertiti, Akhenaton's queen. As Akhenaton's

Ashgill Series

2005-01-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Ashgillian Series, the uppermost (in ascending order) of six divisions constituting the Ordovician System, representing all those rocks deposited worldwide during the Ashgillian Age (448 to 438 million years ago). The name of the series is derived from the Ash Gill Slates in the vicinity of Coniston in the Lake District of Cumbria, Eng., which is the type area for rocks of this age. Cautley, also

Locmariaquer

2005-01-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

Village and seaside resort, on the coast of the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan département, Bretagne région, western France, south of Auray. It is famous for its megalithic monuments, notably the Fairies' Stone, a huge, broken standing stone, originally 66 feet (20 m) high—the greatest known menhir (upright monumental stone) in existence. Behind it is the Merchants' Table, composed

Syria, Railways

2005-01-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

Syria's railways are well developed. A northern line runs northeastward from Aleppo into Turkey and then east along the border to al-Qamishli, where it crosses the northeastern extremity of Syria en route to Baghdad (Iraq). The Hejaz Railway runs from Damascus to Amman (Jordan), and a third runs from Aleppo to Tripoli (Lebanon). Aleppo and Damascus are also linked by rail. Smaller

Apple Computer, Inc.

2005-01-13T04:05:00.000-08:00

American manufacturer of personal computers, computer peripherals, and computer software. It was the first successful personal computer company and the popularizer of the graphical user interface. Headquarters are located in Cupertino, California.

Macdonald, John Sandfield

2005-01-11T05:38:00.000-08:00

Macdonald was called to the bar in 1840, and the next year he was elected to the Canadian Parliament for Glengarry, a seat he held for 16 years. He supported constitutional government and in 1849–51 served as solicitor general. He held the posts of speaker

Feline Distemper

2005-01-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

Also called Panleukopenia, or Infectious Enteritis, viral disease of cats, kittens two to six months old being most susceptible. About 3 to 10 days after exposure to the disease, infected kittens cough and sneeze, have running eyes and nose, are feverish, lose their appetites, vomit, and have diarrhea. The number of white cells in the blood drops severely. The disease rarely lasts more than a week, but the mortality rate is high.

Acrostic

2005-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

The word was first applied to the prophecies of the Erythraean Sibyl, which were written on leaves and arranged so that the initial letters of the leaves always formed a word.

Managerial Economics

2005-01-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

Application of economic principles to decision-making in business firms or of other management units. The basic concepts are derived mainly from microeconomic theory, which studies the behaviour of individual consumers, firms, and industries, but new tools of analysis have been added. Statistical methods, for example, are becoming increasingly important in

Lancet Fish

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

Either of two species of widely distributed, deepwater marine fish of the genus Alepisaurus (the family Alepisauridae). Lancet fish are elongated and slender, with a long, very tall dorsal fin and a large mouth that is equipped with formidable fanglike teeth. The fish grow to a large size, attaining a maximum length of about 1.8 m (6 feet). Voracious and carnivorous, they feed

Permafrost, Patterned ground

2005-01-07T02:19:00.000-08:00

Intense seasonal frost action, repeated freezing and thawing throughout the year, produces small-scale patterned ground. Repetitive freezing and thawing tends to stir and sort granular sediments, thus forming circles, stone nets, and polygons a few centimetres to 6 metres in diameter. The coarse cobbles and boulders form the outside of the ring and the finer sediments

Flood, Henry

2005-01-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of Warden Flood, chief justice of the King's Bench in Ireland, Henry entered the Irish Parliament in 1759. Irish Protestants were becoming impatient with the British Parliament's right to legislate

Florida State University

2005-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. It is part of the State University System of Florida and consists of eight schools and eight colleges, including a college of engineering that is jointly operated with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Branch campuses are located in Panama City and the Central American

Nevado De Toluca National Park

2005-01-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

Park in Mexico estado (“state”), central Mexico. It is situated in the municipality of Zinacantepec, on the Mexico–Toluca–Guadalajara highway west of Mexico City. Established in 1936, it has an area of 259 square miles (671 square km). The park lies in the Nevado de Toluca (or Zinantecatl) Mountains, which rise above 15,025 feet (4,580 m). Among the park's chief features are an extinct, snowcapped volcano

Gadamer, Hans-georg

2005-01-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

German philosopher (b. Feb. 11, 1900, Marburg, Ger.—d. March 14, 2002, Heidelberg, Ger.), was a principal figure in 20th-century philosophical hermeneutics. His conception of language as a historical phenomenon had great influence in postmodernist and poststructuralist thought. Gadamer studied philosophy in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Pol.), Munich, and Marburg, where he completed a doctorate (1922) on

Biblical Literature, Sources of the Septuagint

2005-01-02T02:48:00.000-08:00

A Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint because there allegedly were 70 or 72 translators, six from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and designated LXX, is a composite of the work of many translators labouring for well over 100 years. It was made directly from Hebrew originals that frequently differed considerably from the present Masoretic text. Apart

Nature, Philosophy Of, The range of topics

2005-01-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

An investigation of recent writings in biophilosophy reveals a continued preoccupation with unanswered—some say unanswerable—questions about evolutionary theory and a growing concern for a critical reappraisal of the question of whether biology is an autonomous discipline unamenable to reduction to mere physical and chemical underpinnings. Until the

Anthophyllite

2004-12-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

An amphibole mineral, a magnesium and iron silicate that occurs in altered rocks, such as the crystalline schists of Kongsberg, Nor., southern Greenland, and Pennsylvania. Anthophyllite is commonly produced by regional metamorphism of ultrabasic rocks. Because its fibres have a low tensile strength, anthophyllite asbestos is not as important as crocidolite or

Muezzin

2004-12-29T03:42:00.000-08:00

Arabic Mu'addin, in Islam, the official who proclaims the call to prayer (adhan) on Friday for the public worship and the call to the daily prayer (salat) five times a day, at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. To summon worshipers the Jews use a trumpet and the Christians use a bell, but the Muslims use the human voice. The muezzin is the servant of the mosque and is chosen for his good

East Dereham

2004-12-28T01:09:00.000-08:00

Also called Dereham town, Breckland district, administrative and historic county of Norfolk, England, 16 miles (26 km) west-northwest of Norwich. The site of a 7th-century Christian convent, it was destroyed by invading Danes. The parish church, dating from the 12th century, contains painted Perpendicular-style ceilings, the former tomb of the church's presumed 7th-century founder, St. Withburga (in

Târgu Jiu

2004-12-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Tîrgu Jiu city, capital of Gorj judet (county), southwestern Romania, on the Jiu River. Formerly a Roman settlement, Târgu Jiu was the property of boyars until the 19th century. After World War II, the city developed rapidly from an agricultural market town into an industrial centre producing timber, clothing, cigarettes, and foodstuffs. It lies in the southern part of the Petrosani

Biblical Literature, First introductory discourse of Moses

2004-12-26T22:33:00.000-08:00

The first introductory discourse, spoken by Moses, traces the journey of the Israelites from Mt. Horeb to Moab, with some noticeable differences in detail from the account in Exodus and Numbers and an emphasis on Moses being banned from entrance into the Promised Land because the Lord was angry at the Israelites. To this historical retrospect is appended an exhortation

Muezzin

2004-12-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Ampthill (of Ampthill), Odo William Leopold Russell, 1st Baron

2004-12-23T03:22:00.000-08:00

A member of a prominent family, Russell as a youth became fluent in French, German, and Italian through tutoring and wide travel and also acquired the social gifts for a diplomatic career. He served in a variety of posts in Vienna, Paris, Constantinople,

Fowler, William A.

2004-12-22T03:14:00.000-08:00

Fowler studied at Ohio State University (B.S., 1933) and at the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1936), where he became a professor in 1939. His theory of

Pacific Ocean, Physical environment

2004-12-21T17:13:00.000-08:00

Otis W. Freeman, Geography of the Pacific (1951), surveys the physical features of the ocean; and Alan E.M. Nairn and Francis G. Stehli (eds.), The Ocean Basins and Margins, vol. 7, The Pacific Ocean, 2 vol. (1985–88), is comprehensive and highly detailed. Zvi Ben-Avraham (ed.), The Evolution of the Pacific Ocean Margins (1989); and H.W. Menard, Marine Geology of the Pacific (1964), explore marine geology and geophysics. See also Bruno Wauthy, Physical Ocean Environment in the South Pacific Commission Area (1986), a short but valuable summary of the oceanography of the central and South Pacific, prepared as a regional report under the United Nations Environment Programme.

Ekhof, Konrad

2004-12-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

In 1739 Ekhof became a member of the company managed by Johann Friedrich Schönemann, an association that extended over 17 years. Ekhof played leading roles in German

Religious Symbolism And Iconography, Diagrammatic and emblematic

2004-12-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Symbolic representations are usually depicted in diagrammatic or ideographic modes as signs, abbreviations, images, and objects of all kinds that indicate a larger context. In this category belong the simplified or abstract forms of objects of nature or other objects and geometrical forms, as well as colours, letters, and numbers. The circle, the disk, the rosette,

Floral Decoration

2004-12-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

Many different kinds of plant materials are used in floral decorations, among them flowers, foliage, grasses, grains, branches, berries, seeds, nuts, cones, fruits, and vegetables. The materials may be living, dried, or artificial. Initially, man was restricted to using native wildings, or uncultivated plants, but as civilization developed over a period of thousands of

Gable

2004-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

The architectural treatment of a gable results from the effort to find an aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem of keeping water out of the intersection of walls and roof. This is accomplished either by

Earth, Age of oceanic islands

2004-12-17T18:23:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest indications that some blocks of seafloor are moving relative to other such blocks was that while the age of young volcanic islands or seamounts shows no relationship to distance from spreading mid-oceanic ridges, old features of this sort are never found near the ridges. This relationship can be readily explained if new seafloor is created

Arsenide

2004-12-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

Any member of a rare mineral group consisting of compounds of one or more metals with arsenic (As). The coordination of the metal is almost always octahedral or tetrahedral. In the former case, each metal ion occupies a position within an octahedron composed of six oppositely charged arsenic ions, whereas in the latter each of the metal ions is surrounded by six oppositely

Dyott, Thomas W.

2004-12-14T21:15:00.000-08:00

A druggist's apprentice in London, Dyott arrived in Philadelphia in the 1790s almost penniless and rented a basement room where by day he polished shoes and by night manufactured shoeblack. In 1807 he opened

France, History Of, The Fifth Republic

2004-12-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

During his years of self-imposed exile, de Gaulle had scorned and derided the Fourth Republic and its leaders. He had briefly sought to oppose the regime by organizing a Gaullist party, but he had soon abandoned this venture as futile. Back in power, he adopted a more conciliatory line; he invited a number of old politicians to join his Cabinet, but he made sure that his