PhysicalKnot

organic bed linen

2006-10-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

Livs range of soft luxurious bed linenis sourced ethically from India and using a fair trade policy. Liv also provide duvet cover set and bath towel set.

Osceola

2005-04-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Osceola moved from Georgia to Florida, where, although not a chief, he came to be acknowledged as a leader

Aschelminth

2005-04-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

Phylum name Aschelminthes, or Nemathelminthes, phylum of wormlike invertebrates, mostly of microscopic size. The phylum includes five diverse classes: Nematoda (or Nemata), Rotifera, Gastrotricha, Kinorhyncha (or Echinodera), and Nematomorpha. The American zoologist Libbie H. Hyman, in her classic textbooks on the invertebrates, originally included Priapulida as a class of the aschelminths, but Priapulida are

Cumanagoto

2005-04-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

Indians of northeastern Venezuela at the time of the Spanish conquest. Since the 17th century they have not existed as a tribal or cultural unit. The Cumanagoto spoke a Cariban language, related to that of the Palenque. They were agricultural, growing corn (maize), manioc, sweet potatoes, and other native crops, as well as coca trees, source of the drug cocaine. Wild foods were

Wicomico

2005-04-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

County, southeastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by Delaware to the north, the Pocomoke River to the east, the Wicomico River to the southwest, and the Nanticoke River to the west and northwest. Salisbury, the county seat, developed as the commercial centre of the Delmarva Peninsula and became one of the largest ports in Maryland. Parklands include Wicomico Demonstration

Waqidi, Al-

2005-04-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

As a youth al-Waqidi is said to have been such an authority on the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina that he was guide to the 'Abbasid caliph Harun ar-Rashid during the latter's pilgrimage. Al-Waqidi became a grain dealer

Pregnancy, Chorionic villi sampling

2005-04-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

The technique of retrieving a sample of villi from the chorion (outer embryonic membrane) within the uterus is similar to amniocentesis but can be carried out much earlier in pregnancy, between the 8th and 12th week of gestation. The test can be performed through either the abdomen or the vagina and cervix. The latter technique is carried out using ultrasonic visualization,

Wachsmann, Konrad

2005-03-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

Originally apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, Wachsmann studied at the arts-and-crafts schools of Berlin and Dresden and at the Berlin Academy of Arts (under the Expressionist architect Hans Poelzig). During

Saffarid Dynasty

2005-03-29T22:57:00.000-08:00

Iranian dynasty of lower class origins that ruled a large area in eastern Iran. The dynasty's founder, Ya'qub ebn Leys as-Saffar (“the coppersmith”), took control of his native province, Seistan, around 866. By 869 he had extended his control into northeastern India, adding the Kabul Valley, Sind, Tocharistan, Makran (Baluchistan), Kerman, and Fars to his possessions; with the overthrow

Cartimandua

2005-03-28T13:02:00.000-08:00

After concluding a treaty with the emperor Claudius early in his conquest of Britain, which began in AD 43, Cartimandua was faced with a series of revolts by anti-Roman elements among her subjects. In 48, Roman forces intervened for the first

Hales, Stephen

2005-03-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

While a divinity student at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he studied science, particularly botany and chemistry. Ordained in 1703, he was appointed in 1709 to the parish of Teddington, where

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, India

2005-03-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

Fables appeared early in India, but it is impossible to determine whether they are older or later than the Greek. Undoubtedly there was mutual influence from very early times, for indirect contacts between Greece and India (by trade routes) had existed long before the time of Alexander the Great. In the form in which they are now known, the Greek fables are the older, but

Córdoba

2005-03-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

Provincia, in the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Andalusia, south-central Spain. It has an area of 5,297 square miles (13,718 square km) that is divided by the Guadalquivir River into a mountainous north, crossed by the Sierra Morena, and a fertile, undulating southern plain, known as La Campiña. Mining (in the north) of lead, zinc, and coal is the province's chief industry.

The Una

2005-03-27T03:48:00.000-08:00

American publication, founded by Paulina W. Davis in 1853, that was widely recognized as the first periodical of the women's rights movement. Though several similar journals appeared the previous year, The Una was the first to be owned, edited, and published by a woman. The inaugural issue was released in February 1853 with a masthead reading “A Paper Devoted to the Elevation of

Mexico City, The colonial city

2005-03-25T04:07:00.000-08:00

Cortés razed Tenochtitlán in 1521 and constructed a Spanish city on its ruins. The conquerors divided the central area among themselves and relegated the defeated to the periphery. The city was chartered and its cabildo, or town council, recognized in 1522; it was given leadership over other cabildos of New Spain in 1535. It soon became the most important city of the Americas, with

Race, Enlightenment philosophers and taxonomists

2005-03-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

The development of the idea and ideology of race coincided with the rise of science in American and European cultures. Much of the inspiration for the growth of science has been credited to the period known as the Enlightenment that spanned most of the 18th century. Many early Enlightenment writers believed in the power of education and fostered very liberal ideals

Christian Science Monitor, The

2005-03-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Daily newspaper (except Saturdays and Sundays) published in Boston under the auspices of the Church of Christ, Scientist. It was established in 1908 at the urging of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the church, as a protest against the sensationalism of the popular press. The Monitor became famous for its thoughtful treatment of the news and for the quality of its long-range, comprehensive

Riesener, Jean-henri

2005-03-23T05:07:00.000-08:00

Riesener was the son of an usher in the law courts of the elector of Cologne. After moving to Paris he joined the workshop of Jean-François Oeben in 1754, and, when Oeben died in 1763, Riesener was put in charge of the workshop and later married his master's widow. He made

Earth, Paleomagnetism

2005-03-23T02:39:00.000-08:00

All rocks contain what is referred to as natural remanent magnetism. This property is due to magnetism acquired by iron-bearing minerals during the cooling and crystallization of an igneous rock, to the formation of iron-bearing minerals at low temperatures during the weathering of previously formed minerals, to the rotation of iron-bearing minerals during

Cheboksary

2005-03-23T00:13:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ceboksary , Chuvash Shupashkar city and capital, Chuvashia republic, Russia. It lies on the right bank of the middle Volga River, between Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. Although Cheboksary is known to have existed since the mid-15th century, and a fortress was built there in 1555, the town remained unimportant until the building of a rail link to Kanash in 1939. Thereafter it grew rapidly, with modern apartment blocks

Maudslay, Henry

2005-03-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

The son of a workman at the Woolwich Arsenal, Maudslay was apprenticed to Joseph Bramah, who manufactured locks. Maudslay soon became Bramah's foreman, but, when refused an increase in pay, he left to go into business for himself. His first job was construction of machinery

Meletius Of Antioch, Saint

2005-03-21T03:24:00.000-08:00

Meletius, who was by origin Armenian, became bishop of Sebaste in 358. He was elected bishop of Antioch in late 360 or 361 when that church, tired of ecclesiastical strife over Arianism, was eager to choose a moderate

Latin America, History Of, Bureaucratic authoritarianism

2005-03-20T05:02:00.000-08:00

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

Kiderlen-wächter, Alfred Von

2005-03-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

After service in the Franco-German War (1870–71), Kiderlen studied law and entered the Prussian diplomatic service (1879). He was an exponent of the tough-minded post-Bismarckian German diplomacy and for a time enjoyed

Molina, Mario

2005-03-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

In full Mario José Molina Mexican-born American chemist who was jointly awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, along with chemists F. Sherwood Rowland and Paul Crutzen, for research in the 1970s concerning the decomposition of the ozonosphere, which shields the Earth from dangerous solar radiation. The discoveries of Molina and Rowland—that some industrially manufactured

Zahran, Az-

2005-03-18T23:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Dhahran, town, northeastern Saudi Arabia, in the Dammam oil field, just south of the Persian Gulf port of ad-Dammam. Near the scene of the original discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia in 1938, it is now a modern community that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). A major United States Air Force Base was built in 1945 and continues in use. The town

Armstrong, Samuel Chapman

2005-03-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

The son of American missionaries to Hawaii, Armstrong attended Oahu College for two years before going to the United States in 1860. He enrolled at Williams College; but, on the outbreak

Andrada E Silva, José Bonifácio De

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

Andrada went to Portugal as a student and became a distinguished scholar there, earning an international reputation as a naturalist and geologist. He remained in Portugal until

Franz, Robert

2005-03-17T03:39:00.000-08:00

Franz studied organ at Dessau from 1835 to 1837. Later he returned to Halle, where he became a friend of Wilhelm Osterwald, many of whose poems he set to music. About the time he published his first

Aguesseau, Henri-françois D'

2005-03-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

The son of Henri d'Aguesseau, intendant (royal agent) of Languedoc, he was advocate general to the Parlement (high court of justice) of Paris from 1690 until 1700. As attorney general in that Parlement from 1700 to 1717, he opposed papal intervention

Price River

2005-03-16T14:08:00.000-08:00

River that rises in the Wasatch Range near Scofield, central Utah, U.S. It flows generally southeastward through Carbon and northeast Emery counties, past Price and through Price Canyon, to join the Green River after a course of 130 miles (210 km). Scofield Dam (1946), near the river's source, impounds water for irrigation. The river was “discovered” in 1869 by the Mormon bishop William

Orange

2005-03-15T06:37:00.000-08:00

City, east-central New South Wales, Australia. It is located near the slopes of Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano. In 1828 the area was named by Sir Thomas Mitchell in memory of the Prince of Orange, his commander during the Peninsular War, and the village of Orange was proclaimed in 1846. It grew after the announcement in 1851 of payable gold deposits at nearby Ophir. Farming replaced

Nervous System, Dendrites

2005-03-15T03:48:00.000-08:00

Besides the axon, neurons have other branches called dendrites that are usually shorter than axons and are unmyelinated. Dendrites are thought to form receiving surfaces for synaptic input from other neurons. In many dendrites these surfaces are provided by specialized structures called dendritic spines, which, by providing discrete regions for the reception

Ghanzi

2005-03-15T00:08:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area comprises state-owned

Dehon, Léon-gustave

2005-03-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Sorbonne, Dehon was ordained priest in 1868 at Rome. After attending the first Vatican Council

Islam, Pillars Of

2005-03-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Arabic Arkan al-Islam the five duties incumbent on every Muslim: shahadah, the Muslim profession of faith; salat, or ritual prayer, performed in a prescribed manner five times each day; zakat, the alms tax levied to benefit the poor and the needy; sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan; and hajj, the major pilgrimage to Mecca.

Ludwig, Carl F.w.

2005-03-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

A professor of physiology at the universities of Marburg (1846–49), Zürich (1849–55), Vienna (1855–65), and Leipzig (1865–95), Ludwig is best known for his study of the cardiovascular system. He invented (1847) a device known as a kymograph to record changes in arterial blood

Ahuitzotl

2005-03-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

The aggressive Ahuitzotl succeeded his brother, Tizoc, to the throne. He proved a merciless warrior, conquering tribes as far south as present-day Guatemala and in territory along the Gulf of Mexico, using such tactics as forced marches, ambushes, and surprise attacks. His men

Calculus

2005-03-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Branch of mathematical analysis concerned with the rates of change of continuous functions as their arguments change. Two men are now credited with discovering calculus, Sir Isaac Newton of England and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz of Germany. For almost a century, development of the subject was inhibited by a bitter controversy over priority between supporters

Augsburg, Peace Of

2005-03-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

The emperor Charles V's provisional ruling on the religious question, the Augsburg Interim of 1548, had been overthrown in 1552 by the revolt of the Protestant elector Maurice of Saxony

Carnivore, Form and function

2005-03-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Basically, the difference in the tooth pattern of pinnipeds, in comparison to the dentition of terrestrial carnivores, reflects an adaptation toward grasping and tearing rather than chewing. Thus there is less variation in the form of the different teeth (commonly said to be homodont, or “similar teeth”), and there tends to be a reduction in the number of teeth. There

Biblical Literature, Problems visual in origin

2005-03-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

The order of letters also might be inverted. Such metathesis, as it is called, appears in Psalms, in which qirbam (“their inward

Wessex

2005-03-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

One of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, whose ruling dynasty eventually became kings of the whole country. In its permanent nucleus, its land approximated that of the modern counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Somerset. At times its land extended north of the River Thames, and it eventually expanded westward to cover Devon and Cornwall. The name Wessex

Theatre

2005-03-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled theater in architecture, a building or space in which a performance may be given before an audience. The word is from the Greek theatron, “a place of seeing.” A theatre usually has a stage area where the performance itself takes place. Since ancient times the evolving design of theatres has been determined largely by the spectators' physical requirements for seeing and hearing

Motor-vehicle Insurance

2005-03-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Liability insurance pays for

Cloos, Hans

2005-03-08T04:21:00.000-08:00

Cloos was a professor at the University of Breslau from 1919 until 1926, when he became professor of geology at the University of Bonn. He studied the structure and development of the continents

Córdoba

2005-03-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Veracruz estado (“state”), east-central Mexico. It lies at 3,031 feet (924 m) above sea level along the San Antonio River, within sight of the dormant volcano Citlaltépetl. The settlement was founded in 1618 as Villa de Córdoba and was host to the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba on Aug. 24, 1821, giving Mexico its independence from Spain. The city is set in a tropical landscape and

Humpbacked Fly

2005-03-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Also called Coffin Fly, any of numerous species of tiny, dark-coloured flies with humped backs that are members of the insect family Phoridae (order Diptera). The adults are abundant around decaying vegetation. Larvae may be scavengers, parasites, or commensals in ant and termite nests. Some species have reduced or no wings.

Seto-guro Ware

2005-03-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

Japanese ceramic ware created at Mino during 1573–96. A black ware, it stands in contrast to the contemporary pure-white Shino ware. Seto-guro (“black Seto”) was produced by a process that involved firing the iron-glaze ware in an oxidizing kiln from which it was suddenly removed and immediately cooled. The shade of black achieved was far richer than had been achieved in the earlier

Discovery

2005-03-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

In law, pretrial procedures providing for the exchange of information between the parties involved in the proceedings. Discovery may be made through interrogatories, which consist of written questions sent from one side to the other in an attempt to secure important facts; it also can be made through depositions, whereby a witness is sworn and, in the presence of

Hawes, Harriet Ann Boyd

2005-03-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

Harriet Boyd graduated from Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1892; thereafter she taught ancient and modern languages for four years, first as a private tutor in Henderson, North Carolina, and then at a girls' school in Wilmington,

Sickert, Walter Richard

2005-03-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

Sickert was the son of Oswald Adalbert Sickert, a Danish-born German draftsman who settled in England in 1868. After several years working as an actor, in 1881 the younger Sickert attended

Music

2005-03-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Major pop artists Pink Floyd, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, and Billy Joel and Elton John (together) undertook tours in 1994, restoring the summer concert business to prosperity after several slow years. Pink Floyd toured in support of The Division Bell, the group's first studio album in seven years. Dramatic, sweeping, and laced with the sonorous guitar

Darshan

2005-03-04T04:48:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Darsana (“auspicious viewing”), in Hindu worship, the beholding of an auspicious deity, person, or object. The experience results in a blessing of the viewer. The rathayatras (car festivals), in which images of gods are taken in procession through the streets, enable even those who in former days were not allowed to enter the temple to have darshan of the deity. The capability of darshan

Paraguay

2005-03-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Paraguay , Spanish República del Paraguay country in south-central South America. A landlocked country, it is bordered by Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. It has a total area of 157,048 square miles (406,752 square kilometres). The national capital is Asunción, which is located on the east bank of the Paraguay River opposite the mouth of its primary

Gender

2005-03-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

In language, a phenomenon in which the words of a certain part of speech, usually nouns, require the agreement, or concord, through grammatical marking (or inflection), of various other words related to them in a sentence. In languages that exhibit gender, two or more classes of nouns control variation in words of other parts of speech (typically pronouns and adjectives

Artificial Organ

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

Any machine, device, or other material that is used to replace the functions of a faulty or missing organ or other part of the human body. Artificial organs include the artificial heart and pacemaker (qq.v.), the use of dialysis (q.v.) to perform kidney functions, and the use of artificial substitutes for missing limbs (see prosthesis).

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

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

Four years later, in 1937—again after working mainly on projects that were never built—Mies moved to the United States. Soon after he arrived in the country, he gained an appointment as director of the School of Architecture at Chicago's Armour Institute (later the Illinois Institute of Technology). Mies served as the school's director for the next 20 years, and, by the time he

La Fosse, Charles De

2005-03-01T22:28:00.000-08:00

The greatest influence on La Fosse's painting was the work of his teacher, Charles Le

Biblical Literature, The role of certain lesser judges

2005-03-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

The third section relates the exploits of the various judges. Othniel, a member of the tribe of Caleb, delivered the erring Israelites from eight years of oppression by Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia. The king, however, was most likely an area ruler, rather than a king of the Mesopotamian Empire. Another judge, Ehud, a left-handed Benjamite, delivered Israel from

Hoorn

2005-03-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, northwestern Netherlands, on the IJsselmeer (lake). Founded about 1300 and chartered in 1357, it was the capital of medieval West Friesland. Its horn-shaped harbour (for which it is named) was one of the principal ports of the Netherlands until the Zuiderzee silted up in the 18th century. The first great net for herring fishing was made in

Indian Law

2005-02-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

The legal practices and institutions of India. The general history of law in India is a well-documented case of reception as well as of grafting. Foreign laws have been “received” into the Indian subcontinent—for example, in the demand by the Hindus of Goa for Portuguese civil law; and the enactment by independent India of statutes such as the Estate Duty Act (1953), the Copyright

Novohrad-volynskyy

2005-02-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

Russian Novograd-volynsky, also spelled Novograd-volynskij, city, Zhytomyr oblast (province), western Ukraine. It lies at the confluence of the Sluch and Smilka rivers. Documents first record the existence of the town in 1257. It was incorporated in 1795, before which it was known as Zvyagel. It contains the ruins of a 14th-century castle. Today the city has machine-building and woodworking industries. Pop. (1991 est.) 56,100.

Altman, Sidney

2005-02-27T03:11:00.000-08:00

Altman attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., 1960, in physics) and the University of Colorado (Ph.D., 1967, in biophysics). He was a molecular biology fellow at Harvard University

Adal

2005-02-26T11:07:00.000-08:00

Historic Islamic state of eastern Africa, in the Danakil-Somali region southwest of the Gulf of Aden, with its capital at Harer (now in Ethiopia). Its rivalry with Christian Ethiopia began in the 14th century with minor border raids and skirmishes. In the 16th century, Adal rose briefly to international importance by launching a series of more serious attacks. The first phase,

Grackle

2005-02-26T08:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Crow-blackbird, any of several species of birds belonging to the family Icteridae (order Passeriformes) that have iridescent black plumage and long tails. Grackles use their stout, pointed bills to snap up insects, dig grubs from the soil, and kill small vertebrates, including fishes and baby birds; they can also crack hard seeds. Most grackles nest in colonies; after breeding, they

Malay Archipelago

2005-02-24T18:56:00.000-08:00

Largest group of islands in the world, consisting of the more than 13,000 islands of Indonesia and the some 7,000 islands of the Philippines. The regional name “East Indies” is sometimes used as a synonym for the archipelago. New Guinea is usually arbitrarily included in the Malay Archipelago while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the northwest and the Bismarck Archipelago

Ben Khedda, Benyoussef

2005-02-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

Algerian independence leader (b. Feb. 23, 1920, Berrouaghia, Alg.—d. Feb. 4, 2003, Algiers, Alg.), negotiated Algeria's independence from France in 1962, but he was forced from power shortly thereafter. In 1943, after he protested against French attempts to recruit Algerians in World War II, Ben Khedda was imprisoned for eight months. After the war he became general secretary of the pro-independence

Suez Canal

2005-02-24T03:32:00.000-08:00

Arabic Qanat as-Suways, sea-level waterway running north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. The canal separates the African continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. It is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes. The canal

Gaius

2005-02-24T02:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Caius Roman jurist whose writings became authoritative in the late Roman Empire. The Law of Citations (426), issued by the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II, named Gaius one of five jurists (the others were Papinian, Ulpian, Modestinus, and Paulus) whose doctrines were to be followed by judges in deciding cases. The Institutiones (“Institutes”) of the Byzantine emperor Justinian

East Cleveland

2005-02-23T20:01:00.000-08:00

City, suburb of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, northeastern Ohio, U.S., just southeast of Lake Erie. The site was settled in 1801 by farmers, and East Cleveland township was organized in 1805. The boundaries were reduced, and the village, which was incorporated in 1895, became a city in 1911. Suburban growth was aided by the streetcar. Primarily residential, the city has some industrial development

Javorníky

2005-02-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

Mountains in central Czechoslovakia, on the western fringe of the Carpathian Mountains and forming part of the boundary between Moravia and Slovakia. The ridge of the Javorníky peaks—the highest, at 3,514 feet (1,071 m), is Velký Javorník, overlooking the village of Velké Karlovice—divides the Becva-Oder river systems to the north and west from the Váh River to the east. Climate

Sialkot

2005-02-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

City and district, Lahore division, Punjab Province, Pakistan. The city, the district headquarters, lies just north of the Aik Nala (Aik Stream) and south of the Jammu Hills and is connected by rail with Wazirabad and Jammu and by road with Lahore and Gujranwala. It was once famous as a centre for the manufacture of damascened ware and paper; its modern industries include flour

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

2005-02-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

English Dresden State Art Collections art museum in Dresden, Ger., that includes collections of painting, sculpture, graphic and applied arts, and coins. It is best known for its picture gallery, the core of which is the collection of paintings that originally belonged to the Kunstkammer, founded by Prince August in 1560. Its most popular works, however, were later acquisitions dating from the 18th century. There

Abu'l-wafa'

2005-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Abu'l-Wafa' worked in a private observatory in Baghdad, where he made observations to determine, among other astronomical parameters, the obliquity of the ecliptic, the length of the seasons, and the latitude of the city.

Macaroni

2005-02-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

In art, Late Paleolithic finger tracings in clay, the oldest form of art known. Innumerable examples appear on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves associated with human habitation in France and Spain, the oldest dating from about 30,000 BC. They range from simple scratchings and jumbled aimless lines to deliberate meanders and arabesques and outline drawings of

Porirua

2005-02-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

City, Wellington local government region, southern North Island, New Zealand. It is located about 13 miles (21 km) north of Wellington city, at the head of Porirua Harbour. The earliest inhabitants were aboriginal moa hunters in the 12th century. European whalers and traders occupied nearby Mana Island from 1832 to 1834, and in 1836 a permanent whaling station was built near Porirua. The city

Tar-baby

2005-02-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

In Harris' version,

Algebra, The structural approach dominates

2005-02-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

After the late 1930s it was clear that algebra, and in particular the structural approach within it, had become one of the most dynamic areas of research in mathematics. Structural methods, results, and concepts were actively pursued by algebraists in Germany, France, the United States, Japan, and elsewhere. The structural approach was also successfully applied to redefine

Celestine Iii

2005-02-18T06:47:00.000-08:00

He was Peter Abélard's student and friend, and he carried out many important legations in Germany, Spain, and Portugal; St. Thomas Becket considered him his most reliable friend at the Roman Curia. He had been cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Italy, for 47 years when, on March 30, 1191, at the age of 85, he was elected as the first

Quillwork

2005-02-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

Type of embroidery done with the quills of a porcupine, or sometimes with bird feathers. This type of decoration was used by American Indians from Maine to Virginia and westward to the Rocky Mountains. For all practical purposes the art has died out. Quills were used on tobacco and tinder bags, knife and paintstick cases, cradles, armulets, burden straps, tunics, shirts,

Sanron

2005-02-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

School of Japanese Buddhism derived, by way of China, from the Indian Madhyamika school. See Madhyamika.

Einhard

2005-02-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

Einhard was educated after 779 in the monastery of Fulda; his brilliance was soon recognized, and he was sent to Charlemagne's Palace School at Aachen

Balakovo

2005-02-17T03:55:00.000-08:00

City, Saratov oblast (province), southwestern Russia, on the left bank of the Volga River. Founded in 1762, it long remained a small agricultural town. Its growth was greatly stimulated by the construction in 1967–70 of the Saratov hydroelectric station on the Volga. Balakovo is also the site of construction of a nuclear power station. A major chemical industry, developed in the 1960s

Sangrur

2005-02-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

City, in southeastern Punjab state, northwestern India. The city was founded in the 17th century and became the capital of the former independent state of Jind. In 1948 it became part of India. Sangrur is an agricultural market with some light industry, including handloom weaving and handicrafts. There are good road and rail connections with the rest of Punjab and with neighbouring

Nephron

2005-02-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

Functional unit of the kidney, the structure that actually produces urine in the process of removing waste and excess substances from the blood. There are about 1,000,000 nephrons in each human kidney. The most primitive nephrons are found in the kidneys (pronephros; q.v.) of primitive fish, amphibian larvae, and embryos of more advanced vertebrates.

Shamanism

2005-02-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

I.M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, 2nd ed. (1989), provides an excellent introduction. A thorough description of the shamanism of the peoples of Siberia is given in M.A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia (1914, reissued 1969); and Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstacy, rev. and enlarged ed. (1964, reissued 1989; originally published in French, 1951), with an extensive bibliography. Eliade's work not only deals with phenomena in Central and North Asia but also in North and South America, Southeast Asia, and Oceania; especially useful are the chapters on “Shamanic Ideologies and Techniques Among the Indo-Europeans” and “Shamanic Symbolisms and Techniques in Tibet, China, and the Far East.” Uno Holmberg, Finno-Ugric, Siberian, vol. 4 in Louis Herbert Gray and George Foot Moore, The Mythology of All Races (1927, reissued 1964), describes shamanism among these peoples. A very thorough summary of the worldview and specific traits of shamanism in North Asia, based on a good knowledge of literature on the subject in Russian, may be found in Georg Nioradze, Der Schamanismus bei den sibirischen Völkern (1925); and the traits considered most significant are discussed by Åke Ohlmarks, Studien zum Problem des Schamanismus (1939). V. Diószegi (ed.), Popular Beliefs and Folklore Tradition in Siberia (1968; originally published in German, 1963), contains studies on the shamanistic conceptions of the Sami, Hungarian, and Siberian peoples. Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Shamanism: Soviet Studies of Traditional Religion in Siberia and Central Asia (1990), summarizes contemporary Soviet research. Several studies explore Latin American shamanism. Jon Christopher Crocker, Vital Souls: Bororo Cosmology, Natural Symbolism, and Shamanism (1985), demonstrates the intimate relationship between social structure generally—and the structure of the village community in particular—and cosmological symbolism and analyzes the role of the shaman in conserving both the social and the cosmic order; this important study also challenges psychological approaches to the study of shamanism, which focus on the shaman's apparent psychological abnormality, and analyzes the larger social forces that are gradually destroying Bororo shamanism, and with it Bororo culture in general. Johannes Wilbert, Tobacco and Shamanism in South America (1987), examines both the pharmacological and the social aspects of nicotine use by the Warao shamans of Venezuela. A fascinating scholarly and artistic exploration of hallucinogenic medicine is found in Luis Eduardo Luna and Pablo Amaringo, Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman (1991), produced through a unique partnership between a professional anthropologist and a practicing Peruvian shaman. Women's roles in Korean shamanism are explored in Laurel Kendall, Shamans, Housewives, and Other Restless Spirits: Women in Korean Ritual Life (1985), while The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman (1988) chronicles the shamanic career of one South Korean woman through extensive use of her own words and stories and thereby examines the recent social history of South Korea through an interesting lens. David Lan, Guns & Rain: Guerrillas & Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe (1985), examines the complex interaction between the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and the traditional shamanic religious leaders of the Dande and Korekore subgroups of Shona during the 1970s; it is a good example of the study of shamanism in tension with modernity.

Vâlcea

2005-02-14T22:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vîlcea, judet (county), south-central Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys, and the Olt and Cerna rivers drain southward through the county. Râmnicu Vâlcea (q.v.; the county capital), Babeni, and Berzoi are timber production centres. Chemical factories operate in Govora, and building materials

Aluminum Bronze

2005-02-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Any of a group of strong, corrosion-resistant alloys of copper containing from 4 to 15 percent aluminum and small amounts of other metals, used to make many machine parts and tools. Because of their golden colour and high tarnish resistance, the alloys are also used for jewelry and in architecture. Their resistance to oxidation at high temperatures and to corrosion, particularly

Lo-johansson, Ivar

2005-02-13T05:03:00.000-08:00

Lo-Johansson was first recognized in the mid-1930s for his detailed and realistic depiction of the plight of landless Swedish peasants, known as statare, in two volumes of

Saranac Lake

2005-02-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Saranac Lake lies 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Lake Placid. It originated in 1819 as a lumber community and became an early rendezvous for mountain guides. The name, from the

Almohads

2005-02-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

A Berber state had arisen in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco about 1120, inspired by Ibn Tumart and his demands for puritanical moral reform and a strict concept of the unity of God (tawhid). In 1121 Ibn Tumart proclaimed himself the mahdi (a promised

Viola

2005-02-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 500 species of herbs or low shrubs, including the small, solid-coloured violets and the larger-flowered, often multicoloured violas and pansies. Viola occur naturally worldwide but are found most abundantly in temperate climates, with the greatest variety occurring in the Andes Mountains of South America. They have also been widely cultivated

Brialmont, Henri-alexis

2005-02-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Educated at the Brussels military school, Brialmont entered the Belgian army in 1843 and rose to the rank of major general (1874) and the post of inspector general of fortifications (1875). Brialmont's innovations developed out of his plans to fortify Antwerp and

Maclaine, Shirley

2005-02-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

After graduating from high school, MacLaine, who had studied ballet since age three, moved to New York City, where she worked as a dancer and model. In 1954 she was hired as a chorus girl and understudy

Sangre De Cristo Mountains

2005-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Segment of the southern Rocky Mountains, extending south-southeastward for about 250 miles (400 km) from Poncha Pass, in south-central Colorado, U.S., to the low divide southwest of Las Vegas, N.M., in north-central New Mexico. Usually considered an extension of the Front Range (q.v.), they are divided into the Culebra and Sangre de Cristo ranges in Colorado. Many of their glaciated summits

Alligator Apple

2005-02-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Fruit tree of tropical America valued for its wood. See custard apple.

Schreiber, R(aemer) E(dgar)

2005-02-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

American experimental physicist who during World War II was one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M., to develop the first atomic bombs and then helped assemble the two bombs that were dropped on Japan; after the war he stayed on at Los Alamos in the weapons division and helped develop the hydrogen bomb, from 1955 led the nuclear rocket

Amphibian, Habitat

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

Because of their diverse reproductive and feeding strategies as well as their structural and functional adaptations, amphibians are found in deserts, swamps, lowland tropical rain forests, and above the tree line in high mountain areas. The three orders of living amphibians all contain species that have independently made transitions from aquatic to terrestrial

Biblical Literature, Baruch

2005-02-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

The apocryphon of Baruch, which is extant in Greek and was included in the Septuagint, is attributed to Baruch, secretary to the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah (7th–6th century BCE). It was Baruch who read Jeremiah's letter to the exiles in Babylon. After hearing his words, the Jews repented and confessed their sins. The first part of the book of Baruch (1:1–3, 8), containing a confession