FrequentOven

Riddah

2005-11-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

Despite the traditional resistance of the Bedouins to any restraining central authority, by 631 Muhammad was able to exact from the majority of their tribes at least nominal adherence to Islam, payment of the zakat, a tax levied on Muslims to support

Shadrinsk

2005-10-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Šadrinsk, city and centre of Shadrinsk rayon (sector) of Kurgan oblast (province), west-central Russia, on the Iset River and the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Founded in 1662, it was chartered in 1781 and today is a manufacturing and agricultural centre, with transport functions. Light engineering, flour milling, and sawmilling are important. Medical and teacher-training colleges are located

Andean Peoples

2005-07-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Studies of the pre-Columbian history and culture of this area may be found in the bibliography of the article pre-Columbian civilizations. The best account of Andean cultures as they appeared to an eyewitness of the early years (16th century) of European rule is Pedro de Cieza de León, The Incas (1959, reissued 1969; originally published in Spanish, 1554). An introduction to Andean archaeology may be found in John Howland Rowe and Dorothy Menzel (eds.), Peruvian Archaeology (1967), with selections mainly by American scholars. The role of irrigation in the cultural and political elaboration of coastal kingdoms is well illustrated in Paul Kosok, Life, Land, and Water in Ancient Peru (1965). Special regional problems are introduced in Louis C. Faron, Mapuche Social Structure (1961), a study of the reintegration of these people of Chile since the time of conquest; L.C. Faron, Hawks of the Sun (1964), on the Southern Andes; Betty J. Meggers, Ecuador (1966); Donald W. Lathrap, The Upper Amazon (1970); Paul T. Baker and Michael A. Little (eds.), Man in the Andes: A Multidisciplinary Study of High-Altitude Quechua (1976); Kevin Kling, Ecuador: Island of the Andes (1988; originally published in French, 1987), focusing on Indian culture and life and illustrated with photographs; and Steve J. Stern, Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest: Huamanga to 1640, 2nd ed. (1993).

Steam Engine

2005-07-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

In a steam engine, hot steam, usually supplied by a boiler (q.v.), expands under pressure, and part of the heat energy is converted into work. The remainder of the heat may be allowed to escape, or, for maximum engine efficiency, the steam may be condensed in a separate apparatus, a condenser, at comparatively

Fibrin

2005-07-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

An insoluble protein that is produced in response to bleeding and is the major component of the blood clot. Fibrin is a tough protein substance that is arranged in long fibrous chains; it is formed from fibrinogen, a soluble protein that is produced by the liver and found in blood plasma. When tissue damage results in bleeding, fibrinogen is converted at the wound into

Hadramawt

2005-07-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Hadhramaut ancient South Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now southern and southeastern Yemen and the present-day Sultanate of Oman (Muscat and Oman). Hadramawt maintained its political independence until late in the 3rd century AD, when it was conquered by the kingdom of Saba'.

Baseball

2005-06-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

Although Sosa, with 63 homers, became the first player to hit 60 home runs in two consecutive seasons, McGwire hit 65, including the 500th of his career, and led the NL with 147 runs batted in. Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies won the NL batting title with an average of .379. Astros pitchers Mike Hampton (22) and Jose Lima (21) led the league in victories, but Randy Johnson of Arizona, who struck out

Athens

2005-06-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

City, seat (1871) of Clarke county (with which it was consolidated in 1990), northeastern Georgia, U.S., on the Oconee River. Founded in 1801 as the seat of the University of Georgia (chartered 1785), it was probably named for Athens, Greece. The city grew with the university, was spared the destruction that accompanied Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's march through Georgia in 1864, and became

Guise, François De Lorraine, 2e Duc De (2nd Duke Of), Duc D'aumale, Prince De Joinville

2005-06-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

As comte d'Aumale he fought in Francis I's army and was wounded almost fatally at the siege of Boulogne (1545); there he received the scar that won him his

Caldecott, Randolph

2005-06-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

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

Polemoniaceae

2005-05-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

The tubular, five-lobed, funnel-shaped or flaring

Schadow, Gottfried

2005-05-15T23:30:00.000-07:00

Schadow was trained under the court sculptor Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert and in Rome (1785–87), where he studied under Antonio Canova. In 1788 he succeeded Tassaert as director of the Prussian royal school of sculpture in Berlin. His first monumental work

Japanese Civil Code

2005-05-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Japanese Mimpo, body of private law adopted in 1896 that, with post-World War II modifications, remains in effect in present-day Japan. The code was the result of various movements for modernization following the Meiji Restoration of 1868. A legal code was required that would fill the needs of the new free-enterprise system that predominated with the dissolution of feudal landholdings. At

Hanamichi

2005-03-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

An integral part of the Kabuki

Swallowing

2005-03-14T04:55:00.000-08:00

The first begins in the mouth. There, food is mixed with saliva for lubrication and placed on the back of the tongue. The mouth closes, and the soft portion of the roof of the mouth (soft palate) rises so that the passageway between

Haldi

2005-03-11T23:52:00.000-08:00

The national god of the ancient kingdom of Urartu, which ruled the plateau around Lake Van, now eastern Turkey, from about 900 to about 600 BC. Haldi was represented as a man, with or without wings, standing on a lion; in the absence of religious texts his attributes are otherwise unknown. A Urartian temple at ancient Musasir dedicated to Haldi and to the goddess Bagbartu, or Bagmashtu,

Dunstan Of Canterbury, Saint

2005-03-04T02:46:00.000-08:00

Of noble birth, Dunstan was educated by Irish monks and visitors at Glastonbury. Later he entered first the household of his uncle, Archbishop Aethelhelm

Eastern Africa, Habitat

2005-03-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

A more useful way of grouping the East African peoples into types is according to their habitats, which can be summarized as follows: wet lowland, wet highland, semiarid, and arid. Wet lowland habitats are concentrated around Lake Victoria, and among the peoples found there about 1900 were the Ganda and Luo, both large in number. Wet highland habitats are less concentrated

Carleton, William

2005-03-02T01:53:00.000-08:00

Born the youngest of 14 children on a small farm, Carleton learned to appreciate the Irish heritage from his father, a man well-versed in the rich folklore of the area. At first a village tutor, he published a two-volume collection of sketches, Traits and Stories

Obelisk

2005-03-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

Tapered monolithic pillar, originally erected in pairs at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. The Egyptian obelisk was carved from a single piece of stone, usually red granite from the quarries at Aswan. It was designed to be wider at its square or rectangular base than at its pyramidal top, which was often covered with an alloy of gold and silver called electrum.

Calamian Group

2005-02-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

Islands lying between Mindoro and Palawan, west central Philippines. The group comprises Busuanga, Culion (q.v.), and Coron islands and about 95 lesser coral isles and islets, with a total area of 677 sq mi (1,753 sq km). The main islands are quite hilly and are densely settled, with relatively stable populations engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing. The principal settlement

Bahya Ben Joseph Ibn Pakuda

2005-02-26T05:23:00.000-08:00

About 1080 Bahya wrote, in Arabic, Al-Hidayah ila-fara' id al-qulub (�Duties of the Heart�). In a rather inaccurate 12th-century translation into Hebrew by Judah ben Joseph ibn Tibbon, Hovot ha-levavot, it became a widely read classic of Jewish philosophic

Philipp, Isidor

2005-02-25T00:51:00.000-08:00

Philipp was brought to Paris as an infant. As a piano student of Georges Mathias at the Conservatoire, he won the first prize in 1883. After study with Saint-Sa�ns and Stephen Heller, he began a brief solo concert career, making his London debut in 1890. From 1903 to 1934 he was professor

Black Hole

2005-02-24T09:13:00.000-08:00

Cosmic body of extremely intense gravity from which nothing, not even light, can escape. A black hole can be formed by the death of a massive star. When such a star has exhausted its internal thermonuclear fuels at the end of its life, it becomes unstable and gravitationally collapses inward upon itself. The crushing weight of constituent matter falling in from all

Fabian, Saint

2005-02-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

Latin �Fabianus � pope from 236 to 250. The successor to St. Anterus, Fabian is said to have divided Rome into seven districts assigned to the seven deacons and to have founded several churches in France. His appointment of notaries to register the deeds of the martyrs reflected the increasing precision with which the Roman Catholic church began to keep records

Insurance, Professional liability insurance

2005-02-22T00:18:00.000-08:00

Known as malpractice, or errors-and-omissions, insurance, professional liability contracts are distinguished from general business liability policies because of the specialized nature of the liability. Professional persons requiring liability contracts include physicians and surgeons, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and insurance agents. Important

Joachim Ii Hektor

2005-02-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

The elder son of Joachim I, Joachim II was given the Old (Altmark) and Middle Marks of Brandenburg on his father's death

Technical Education

2005-02-20T04:35:00.000-08:00

The academic and vocational preparation of students for jobs involving applied science and modern technology. It emphasizes the understanding and practical application of basic principles of science and mathematics, rather than the attainment of proficiency in manual skills that is properly the concern of vocational education. Technical education has

Gray Seal

2005-02-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

(Halichoerus grypus), seal of the family Phocidae, found in North Atlantic waters along the coast of Newfoundland, the British Isles, and in the Baltic region. It is spotted gray and black and is characterized by a robust appearance and heavy head. The male grows to about 3 m (10 feet) in length and 300 kg (660 pounds) in weight; the female is smaller. Gregarious and rather

Leaf Fibre

2005-02-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Hard, coarse fibre obtained from leaves of monocotyledonous plants (flowering plants that usually have parallel-veined leaves, such as grasses, lilies, orchids, and palms), used mainly for cordage. Such fibres, usually long and stiff, are also called �hard� fibres, distinguishing them from the generally softer and more flexible fibres of the bast, or �soft,� fibre group. Commercially

B�hme, Jakob

2005-02-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

German philosophical mystic who had a profound influence on such later intellectual movements as idealism and Romanticism. Erkl�rung �ber das erste Buch Mosis, better known as Mysterium Magnum (1623; The Great Mystery), is his synthesis of Renaissance nature mysticism and biblical doctrine. His Von der

Ogoou� River

2005-02-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Ogowe, � stream of west-central Africa, flowing in Gabon for almost its entire course and draining an area of almost 86,000 square miles (222,700 square km). It rises in Congo (Brazzaville) on the eastern slopes of the Massif du Chaillu and flows northwest through Gabon past Franceville and Lastoursville; it then turns west and southwest past Boou�, Ndjol�, and Lambar�n�, collecting water from

Val-d'or

2005-02-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

Town, Abitibi-T�miscamingue region, western Quebec province, Canada. Val-d'Or lies near Lakes Blouin, de Montigny, and Lemoine. Although its name means �valley of gold,� there is no valley in the vicinity. The town was founded by miners in 1934, and its economy depends chiefly on mining (gold, molybdenum, zinc, lead, and copper) and lumbering. Val-d'Or is also a base for the hunting and

Kenai Fjords National Park

2005-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

The park includes the 300-square-mile (777-square-km) Harding Icefield and its outflowing glaciers and numerous coastal fjords and islands, which are remnants

Biblical Literature, The New English Bible

2005-02-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

The New English

Pueblo

2005-02-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1861) of Pueblo county, south-central Colorado, U.S., situated on the Arkansas River, near its confluence with Fountain Creek, at an elevation of 4,690 feet (1,430 metres). Jim Beckwourth, a trader and onetime war chief of the Crow Indians, established a trading post, Fort Pueblo, on the site in 1842; the post was abandoned in 1854 following a period of hostilities between whites and Indians.

Korosten

2005-02-11T21:54:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Korosten� ', city, Zhitomir oblast (province), north-central Ukraine. It lies along the west bank of the Uzh River about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Kiev. The city, which was incorporated in 1926, is a small industrial centre, a railway junction, and an engineering centre. In addition, it manufactures equipment for the chemical industry and has woodworking, porcelain, food-processing, and clothing

Space-time

2005-02-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

Common intuition previously supposed no connection between space and time. Physical space was held to be a flat, three-dimensional continuum - i.e., an arrangement of all possible point locations - to which Euclidean postulates

Addition Reaction

2005-02-09T00:30:00.000-08:00

Addition reactions are typical of unsaturated organic compounds - i.e., alkenes, which contain a carbon-to-carbon double bond, and alkynes, which have a carbon-to-carbon triple bond - and aldehydes and ketones, which have a carbon-to-oxygen double bond. An addition reaction may be

Kielland, Alexander Lange

2005-02-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

The scion of an aristocratic family, Kielland took a law degree in 1871 and purchased a brickyard, which he managed for nine years. Discontented, he went to Paris in 1878 and the next year published a collection

Kirchhoff, Gustav Robert

2005-02-07T21:43:00.000-08:00

In 1845 Kirchhoff first announced Kirchhoff's

Sarasin, Jean-fran�ois

2005-02-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Sarasin undertook classical studies, and in 1648 he entered the household of Armand I de Bourbon,

Amratian Culture

2005-02-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

Also called �Naqadah I culture� Egyptian predynastic cultural phase, centred in Upper Egypt, its type-site being al-'Amirah near Abydos in Qina muhafazah (governorate). Numerous sites, dating to about 3600 BC, have been excavated and reveal an agricultural way of life similar to that of the preceding Badarian culture, but with advanced skills and techniques, including mud-brick structures in fair-sized towns.

Heteropteran

2005-02-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

Any member of the insect order Heteroptera, which comprises the so-called true bugs. (Some authorities use the name Hemiptera; others consider both the heteropterans and the homopterans to be suborders of the Hemiptera.) This large group of insects, consisting of about 30,000 species, can be recognized by an X-shaped design on the back, which is formed by the wings at rest. A combination

Cohesion Hypothesis

2005-02-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

In botany, a generally accepted explanation of the rise of sap in plants by means of intermolecular attractions. Calculation and experiment indicate that the forces of cohesion between water molecules and the forces of adhesion between water molecules and the walls of the vessel cells are sufficient to confer on thin columns of water a tensile strength of at

Fidei Commissum

2005-02-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

In Roman law and civil-law systems, a gift of property to a person (usually by will), imposing upon that person the obligation to transfer it to a specified ultimate recipient, the latter being a person legally incapable of taking the property directly or at least not in the amount designated. It constituted a means of evading the inheritance requirements in Roman and

Bloch, Ernest

2005-02-01T00:15:00.000-08:00

Bloch studied with the noted Swiss composer �mile Jaques-Dalcroze and in Belgium with the violinist Eug�ne Ysa�e. From 1911 to 1915 he taught at the Geneva Conservatory.

Hoover, Herbert

2005-01-31T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hoover and his wife - the former Lou Henry (Lou Hoover), also a Stanford-trained geologist - moved first to Palo Alto, California, and then to New York City, where they took up residence at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. For the next 30 years, Hoover was closely identified with the most conservative elements in the Republican Party, condemning what he regarded as the radicalism of the New Deal and opposing Roosevelt's attempts to take a more active role against German and Japanese aggression. He believed fascism lay at the root of government programs like the New Deal and argued so in The Challenge to Liberty (1934) and the eight-volume Addresses upon the American Road (1936 - 61), as well as in the speeches Against the Proposed New Deal (1932, see original text) and The New Deal and European Collectivism (1936, see original text). An ardent anticommunist and foe of international crusades, he opposed American entry into World War II (until the attack on Pearl Harbor) and denounced American involvement in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His last major activity was heading the Hoover Commission, under Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, which aimed at streamlining the federal bureaucracy. The research-oriented Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University - founded in 1919 as the Hoover War Collection, a library on World War I - is named in his honour.

Quillen, Daniel Gray

2005-01-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

Quillen was awarded the Fields Medal at the International

Hyesan

2005-01-29T00:10:00.000-08:00

City, northern North Korea. As a frontier city lying on the upper stream of the Yalu River (Amnok-kang), it was a fortress during the Yi dynasty (1392 - 1910), under the name of Hyesanjin. In winter it is one of the coldest places in Korea; a temperature of -44� F (-42� C) was recorded in 1915. It is the starting point of water transportation on the Yalu. Logs from the nearby Paektu Mountain area, which contains

Daniel, The Book Of

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

Also called �The Prophecy Of Daniel,� a book of the Old Testament found in the Ketuvim (Writings), the third section of the Jewish canon, but placed among the Prophets in the Christian canon. The first half of the book (chapters 1 - 6) contains stories in the third person about the experiences of Daniel and his friends under Kings Nebuchadrezzar II, Belshazzar, Darius I, and Cyrus II; the second half, written mostly

Sesostris I

2005-01-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

Sesostris became coregent in 1918 BC with his aging father, Amenemhet I, who had founded the 12th dynasty. While his father completed his domestic reforms, Sesostris undertook the conquest of Nubia, to the south of Egypt, and in the year 30 of his father's reign

Torcello

2005-01-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

Island-village in the Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon) and an eastern environ of Venice, Italy. Founded in AD 452 by refugees from Altino on the mainland, the bishopric of Altino was transferred there in the 7th century. The island, a flourishing city in ancient times, was the head of an association of the communes of the lagoon until the seat of government was moved to the Rialto

Forbidden Lines

2005-01-25T01:50:00.000-08:00

In astronomical spectroscopy, bright emission lines in the spectra of certain nebulae (H II regions), not observed in the laboratory spectra of the same gases, because on Earth the gases cannot be rarefied sufficiently. The term forbidden is misleading; a more accurate description would be �highly improbable.� The emissions result from electrons in long-lived orbits

Shigemitsu Mamoru

2005-01-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

Shigemitsu, a graduate of Tokyo University, joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1911. By 1918 he held a position in the embassy in Poland and, while in Europe, attended the Paris

Hara Takashi

2005-01-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

Hara was the son of a high-ranking samurai family of northern Japan. After graduating from Tokyo University he became a journalist. In 1882 he entered the foreign service, upon which he rose rapidly

Aragua

2005-01-22T09:51:00.000-08:00

Estado (�state�), northern Venezuela. It is bounded north by the Caribbean Sea, east by the Distrito Federal and Miranda state, south by Gu�rico state, and west by Carabobo state. Aragua consists largely of two Andean ranges separated by an intermontane basin, in which lies Lake Valencia. Henri Pittier National Park (413 square miles), with its exceptionally rich and varied

Muhasibi, Al-

2005-01-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

In full� Abu 'abd Allah Al-harith Ibn Asad Al-'anazi Al-muhasibi � eminent Muslim mystic (Sufi) and theologian renowned for his psychological refinement of pietistic devotion and his role as a precursor of the doctrine of later Muslim orthodoxy. His main work was ar-Ri 'ayah li-huquq Allah, in which he acknowledges asceticism to be valuable as an act of supererogation but always to be tempered by inner and outer duties

Muhasibi, Al-

2005-01-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

Nsukka

2005-01-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

University town, Enugu state, southern Nigeria. It lies in the Udi Hills at an elevation of 1,300 feet (396 m). Nsukka is an agricultural-trade centre for the yams, cassava, corn (maize), taro, pigeon peas, and palm oil and kernels produced by the local Igbo (Ibo) people. Weaving is a traditional local craft. Coal deposits have been discovered east of Nsukka around Obolo, a town on the main

Udhampur

2005-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Town in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir state, situated at an elevation of 2,500 feet (760 m). It is named for Udham Singh, eldest son of Gulab Singh, the founder and ruler of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Situated on the Pathankot-Uri national highway connecting Srinagar via Udhampur to the rest of India, Udhampur town is an important military cantonment in northern India. Krimchi,

Albert, Lake

2005-01-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

Also called �Albert Nyanza� and �Lake Mobutu Sese Seko, � northernmost of the lakes in the Western Rift Valley, in east-central Africa, on the border between Congo (Kinshasa) and Uganda. In 1864 the lake was first visited by a European, Samuel Baker, who was seeking the sources of the Nile; he named it after Queen Victoria's consort and published his experiences in The Albert N'yanza (1866). Romolo Gessi, an Italian soldier and explorer, circumnavigated

Vienna, Siege Of

2005-01-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

The leader of the Hungarian Calvinists, Imre Th�k�ly, appealed to the Turkish grand vizier, Kara Mustafa, to attack

Moraceae

2005-01-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

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

Wesleyan Church

2005-01-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. Protestant church, organized in 1968 by the merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America and the Pilgrim Holiness Church. The Wesleyan Methodist Church originated in 1843 after members of the Methodist Episcopal Church withdrew from that church to organize a nonepiscopal, antislavery church. The Pilgrim Holiness Church originated in 1897 by uniting several Holiness

Salamis

2005-01-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

Principal city of ancient Cyprus, located on the east coast of the island, north of modern Famagusta. According to the Homeric epics, Salamis was founded after the Trojan War by the archer Teucer, who came from the island of Salamis, off Attica. This literary tradition probably reflects the Sea Peoples' occupation of Cyprus (c. 1193 BC), Teucer perhaps representing Tjekker of

Futabatei Shimei

2005-01-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

Although Futabatei wrote three novels and translated many stories,

Wythe, George

2005-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

Admitted to the bar in 1746, Wythe was a member

Africa, The Orange basin

2005-01-10T21:40:00.000-08:00

The Orange River is the longest in South Africa. Flowing across almost the entire width of the country, it makes its way from the highlands in the east through the Kalahari depression in the west to empty into the South Atlantic Ocean. Its major tributary, the Vaal River, is one of its northern headwaters; the two rivers together have a combined length of about 1,300 miles. Together

Nei-chiang

2005-01-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

In medieval times the locality was an important salt-producing area, but in recent times its

Ear, Human, Semicircular canals

2005-01-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

The three semicircular canals of the bony labyrinth are designated, according to their position, superior, horizontal, and posterior (Figure 3). The superior and posterior canals are in diagonal vertical planes that intersect at right angles. Each canal has an expanded end, the ampulla, which opens into the vestibule. The ampullae of the horizontal and superior canals

Karag�

2005-01-07T01:48:00.000-08:00

(Turkish: �Black Eyes,� or �Gypsy�), type of Turkish shadow play, named for its stock hero, Karag�z. The comically risqu� plays are improvised from scenarios for local audiences in private homes, coffee shops, public squares, and innyards. The Karag�z play apparently was highly developed in Turkey by the 16th century and was adapted in Greece and North Africa. In the 20th century,

Mathematics, Foundations Of, Abstraction in mathematics

2005-01-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

One recent tendency in the development of mathematics has been the gradual process of abstraction. The Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802 - 29) proved that equations of the fifth degree cannot, in general, be solved by radicals. The French mathematician �variste Galois (1811 - 32), motivated in part by Abel's work, introduced certain groups of permutations to determine

Middlesex

2005-01-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

County, south-central Connecticut, U.S. It is bordered to the south by Long Island Sound and to the southwest by the Hammonasset River, and the Connecticut River bisects the county from north to south. Other waterways are the Menunketesuck River, the Moodus Reservoir, and Bashan Lake. The topography is mostly upland terrain, with river valleys and coastal lowlands. Parklands

Armenia

2005-01-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

In full �Republic of Armenia, �Armenian �Hayastan, �or �Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun, � country of Transcaucasia, lying just south of the great mountain range of the Caucasus and fronting the northwestern extremity of Asia. It covers an area of 11,500 square miles (29,800 square kilometres). To the north and east Armenia is bounded by Georgia and Azerbaijan, while its neighbours to the southeast and west are, respectively, Iran and Turkey. Nax�ivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan,

John George I

2005-01-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

An easygoing, indolent drunkard whose chief wish was �to drink his beer in peace,� he was a faithful adherent of the house of Habsburg. As a result of his inability

Seton, George Seton, 5th Lord

2005-01-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

He was the eldest son of the 4th Lord Seton (d. 1549) and was educated in France. He was present at Mary's marriage with the dauphin (afterward Francis II of France) in 1557, and three years later he was again in France because of his adherence to Roman Catholicism. When Mary returned to Scotland (1561), he became privy councillor

Seton, George Seton, 5th Lord

2005-01-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

The monkeys

Clothing And Footwear Industry

2004-12-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

Also called �apparel and allied industries, �garment industries, �or �soft-goods industries, � factories and mills producing outerwear, underwear, headwear, footwear, belts, purses, luggage, gloves, scarfs, ties, and household soft goods such as drapes, linens, and slipcovers. The same raw materials and equipment are used to fashion these different end products.

Bekabad

2004-12-29T01:09:00.000-08:00

City, Tashkent oblast (province), eastern Uzbekistan. It lies along both banks of the Syr River at the extreme southern tip of the oblast. The town arose originally in connection with a cement plant and until World War II was known as a cement and cotton centre. During World War II a small steel plant was constructed in Bekabad. It uses scrap and some pig iron brought from

Averro�

2004-12-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

Medieval Latin �Averrho�s�, also called �Ibn Rushd�, Arabic in full �Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Rushd � influential Islamic religious philosopher who integrated Islamic traditions with ancient Greek thought. At the request of the Almohad caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, he produced a series of summaries and commentaries on most of Aristotle's works (1169 - 95) and on Plato's Republic, which exerted considerable influence in

Bingo

2004-12-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

To play bingo, which is a form of lottery, each player purchases one or more cards divided into numbered and blank squares. Randomly chosen numbers, usually up to 75 or 90, are

Robbins, Frederick Chapman

2004-12-26T03:29:00.000-08:00

American pediatrician and virologist who received (with John Enders and Thomas Weller) the 1954 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for successfully cultivating poliomyelitis virus in tissue cultures. This accomplishment made possible the production of polio vaccines, the development of sophisticated diagnostic

La Salle

2004-12-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

City, La Salle county, north-central Illinois, U.S., on the Illinois River. With Peru (west) and Oglesby (south), it forms a tri-city unit. Settled in 1830 and named for the explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, its growth was stimulated by the Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) and the arrival in the 1850s of the Illinois Central and Rock Island railroads. Its economy, based mainly on coal

Fisher, Bud

2004-12-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

After attending the University of Chicago, Fisher worked as a journalist in San Francisco, where for the San Francisco Chronicle he originated �Mr. Mutt� in 1907. Soon he added Jeff, the short one of the pair and usually the loser in their encounters. Originally a sports cartoonist,

Bohr, Harald August

2004-12-22T17:20:00.000-08:00

The brother of the noted physicist Niels Bohr, he became professor at the Polytechnic Institute in Copenhagen in 1915 and at the University of Copenhagen in 1930. His early mathematical

Allon, Yigal

2004-12-21T06:17:00.000-08:00

Allon was one of the first commanders of the Palmach, an elite branch of the Haganah, a Zionist military organization

Alasehir

2004-12-20T06:24:00.000-08:00

Town, western Turkey. It lies in the Kuzu River valley, at the foot of the Boz Mountain. Founded about 150 BC by a king of Pergamum, it became an important town of the Byzantine Empire. It was not taken by the Ottomans until after all other cities of Asia Minor had surrendered to Ottoman rule. Conquered by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1402, it was recaptured under the Ottoman sultan Murad II (reigned

Pietra Dura

2004-12-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

(Italian: �hard stone�), in mosaic, any of several kinds of hard stone used in commesso mosaic work, an art that flourished in Florence particularly in the late 16th and 17th centuries and involved the fashioning of highly illusionistic pictures out of cut-to-shape pieces of coloured stone. The resulting decorative mosaics were used primarily for tabletops and small wall

Tigon

2004-12-18T23:49:00.000-08:00

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.

Kadu Languages

2004-12-17T02:33:00.000-08:00

Also called �Kadugli-Krongo languages� group of related languages spoken along the western and southern edge of the Nuba Hills in The Sudan. These languages were formerly classified as part of the Kordofanian group within the Niger-Congo language family, but they are now widely believed to form a subgroup within the Nilo-Saharan language family. The name Kadu is based on a widespread word for �people� in

Daigak Guksa

2004-12-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

A son of the Koryo king Munjong, Uich'on became a Buddhist monk at age 11, and in 1084 he went to the Sung court of China and stayed a year and a half studying and collecting Buddhist literature. When Uich'on returned home to Korea, he brought with him the doctrines of the Chinese T'ien T'ai (Korean pronunciation

Karabagh Rug

2004-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

Karabagh also spelled �Karabakh, � floor covering handmade in the district of Karabakh (Azerbaijan), just north of the present Iranian border. As might be expected, Karabagh designs and colour schemes tend to be more like those of Persian rugs than do those made in other parts of the Caucasus, and it is difficult to distinguish Karabagh runners from those of Karzdagh, in Iran, to the south. Certain Karabagh

Welsh Corgi

2004-12-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

The Cardigan Welsh corgi (see photograph), named after Cardiganshire, can be traced back to dogs brought to Wales by the Celts about 1200 BC. The original type was known as the Bronant and

Christian Front

2004-12-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

In American history, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi organization active from about 1938 until the United States entered World War II. Under the banner of anticommunism, it openly and clandestinely encouraged boycotts of Jewish merchants, used the slogan �Buy Christian,� and published the Christian Index, a directory of non-Jewish merchants in part of New York City. It received

Gadwall

2004-12-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

(Anas strepera), small, drably coloured duck of the family Anatidae, a popular game bird. Almost circumpolar in distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, the gadwall breeds above latitude 40� and winters between 20 - 40�. In North America the densest breeding populations occur in the Dakotas and the prairie provinces of Canada; the coast of Louisiana is a primary wintering area.

Creativity

2004-12-11T00:44:00.000-08:00

Many creative people show a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance; they often seem to consider asymmetry and disorder a challenge. At times creative persons give an impression of psychological imbalance, but immature personality traits may be an extension of a generalized receptivity to a wider-than-normal range of experience and

Hovey, Richard

2004-12-10T00:14:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1885, Hovey studied art and theology and in 1887 met Bliss Carman, the poet, with whom he later collaborated. Hovey lectured on aesthetics at the Farmington School of Philosophy and, for the last two years of his life, at Columbia University, where he held a post as professor

Chase, William Merritt

2004-12-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

Chase studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City and under Karl von Piloty for six years in Munich. He worked for a time in the grays and browns of the Munich school, but in the 1880s

Cimmerian

2004-12-08T01:27:00.000-08:00

Member of an ancient people living north of the Caucasus and the Sea of Azov, driven by the Scythians out of southern Russia, over the Caucasus, and into Anatolia toward the end of the 8th century BC. Ancient writers sometimes confused them with the Scythians. Most scholars now believe that the Cimmerians assaulted Urartu (Armenia) about 714 BC, but in 705, after being repulsed by Sargon