AbleWing

Holstein Interglacial Stage

2005-04-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Major division of Pleistocene deposits and time in Europe (the Pleistocene Epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Holstein Interglacial followed the Elsterian Glacial Stage and preceded the Saale Glacial Stage. The Holstein Interglacial is correlated with the Hoxne Interglacial Stage of Britain and the Mindel-Riss Interglacial Stage of

Out Islands

2005-04-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

The islands that make up The Bahamas apart from New Providence Island. Extending eastward off the Florida coast to just north of Hispaniola are about 3,000 islands and rocks, with a combined area of about 4,000 square miles (10,500 square km). About 20 of the islands are permanently inhabited. Pop. (1980) 74,068.

Vance, Cyrus

2005-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Vance received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1939. Following graduation from the Yale law school in 1942, he enlisted in the navy and served until 1946, after which he joined a Wall

Bona Dea

2005-04-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

(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

Dactylella

2005-04-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

A genus of 15 species in the Fungi Imperfecti (form-class Deuteromycetes; q.v.). They capture and kill nematodes (roundworms) by penetrating their bodies. A penetration tube grows out of a hypha (one of the filaments that make up the body of a typical fungus) after contact with the prey, enters it, and begins to grow and branch, forming haustoria (special absorbing structures).

Scythian

2005-04-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

Much of what is known of the history of the Scythians comes from the account of them by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who visited their territory. In modern times this

Solar

2005-04-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sollar, in architecture, private room in a late medieval English manor house, located on the floor above the great hall. The solar served as a kind of parlour to which the owner of the manor house or castle could retire with his family from the chaotic communal living of the hall below. In fact, by the late 14th century the solar was more often called the “retiring room.” Up a flight of

Israeli, Isaac Ben Solomon

2005-04-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

Israeli

Puerto Ayacucho

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

City, capital of Amazonas estado (state), southern Venezuela, situated on the Orinoco River just below the Atures Rapids, which block navigation on the river. Puerto Ayacucho is the trading centre for the large but sparsely populated state, which produces mainly rubber and balata. From the city a road leads 55 miles (90 km) south-southwestward to the river port of Samariapo,

Encomium

2005-03-30T10:30:00.000-08:00

A prose or poetic work in which a person, thing, or abstract idea is glorified. Originally an encomium was a Greek choral song honouring the hero of the Olympic Games and sung at the victory celebration at the end of the Games. The Greek writers Simonides of Ceos and Pindar wrote some of the earliest of these original encomia. The term later took on the broader meaning

Seni Pramoj, Mom Rajawong

2005-03-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

Thai diplomat and politician whose refusal to honour Japanese demands that he deliver a Thai declaration of war against the U.S. and the U.K. during World War II kept the U.S. from attacking Thailand and gained U.S. aid in organizing resistance forces (b. May 26, 1905--d. July 28, 1997).

Leary, Timothy

2005-03-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

Leary, the son of a U.S. Army officer, was raised in a Catholic household and attended Holy Cross College, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the University of Alabama (B.A., 1943). In 1950 he received a doctorate in psychology

Iberville

2005-03-28T14:06:00.000-08:00

Town, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada, on the east bank of the Richelieu River, opposite Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Originally called Christieville, it was renamed in 1854 for the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. The town is a rail and highway hub and a residential district of Saint-Jean. Economic activities include woodworking, dairying,

Japanese Alps

2005-03-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

The ranges are a popular skiing and mountain-climbing area. The Hida Range is included within Chubu-Sangaku National Park, which stretches over Gifu, Toyama, Nagano, and Niigata prefectures and

Mastoid Process

2005-03-27T02:18:00.000-08:00

The smooth pyramidal or cone-shaped bone projection at the base of the skull on each side of the head just below and behind the ear in humans. The mastoid process is important to students of fossil humans because it occurs regularly and in the specific form described only in hominids (i.e., members of the genera Homo and Australopithecus). The development of the mastoid

Cincinnatian Series

2005-03-26T22:28:00.000-08:00

Uppermost rocks of the Ordovician System, defined on the basis of exposures seen around the region of Cincinnati, Ohio, where they consist of numerous limestone formations that are richly fossiliferous. (The Ordovician Period lasted from 505 to 438 million years ago.) To the south and west of Cincinnati, the deposits are fragmentary, whereas deposits found in the Appalachian

Milky Way Galaxy, Emission nebulas

2005-03-26T11:10:00.000-08:00

A conspicuous component of the Galaxy is the collection of large, bright, diffuse gaseous objects generally called nebulas. The brightest of these cloudlike objects are the emission nebulas, large complexes of interstellar gas and stars in which the gas exists in an ionized and excited state (with the electrons of the atoms excited to a higher than normal energy

Austin College

2005-03-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher education in Sherman, Texas, U.S. Austin, a liberal arts college, is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The college offers bachelor's degree programs in humanities, math and science, and social sciences, as well as interdisciplinary and area studies programs. A master's degree in education is also available. Students

Madagascar, Settlement patterns

2005-03-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

Despite the importance of intensive rice cultivation, the land is used primarily for pastoral purposes. Cattle are kept in all parts of the island. Fewer are found in the dense forest areas of the eastern escarpment, but elsewhere pastoralism predominates, most often coexisting with the cultivation of subsistence crops. On the plateau, the valley floors and irrigable

Gance, Abel

2005-03-23T21:58:00.000-08:00

Working in the cinema from 1909, Gance first gained recognition with his films Mater dolorosa (1917; “Sorrowful Mother,” remade in 1932) and La Dixième Symphonie (1918; “Tenth Symphony”). Influenced by the epic style of the pioneer American

Acta

2005-03-23T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Acta Senatus, or Commentarii Senatus, were the minutes of the proceedings of the Senate. The emperor Augustus continued to keep them but forbade their publication. From the reign of his successor, Tiberius, in the

Malang

2005-03-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Kotamadya (municipality) and kabupaten (regency), Jawa Timur provinsi (“province”), Indonesia. Malang regency has an area of 3,391 square miles (8,782 square km). It is principally agricultural and known for its production of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Malang is located on a plateau between Mount Kawi (8,697 feet [2,651 m]) and the Tengger Mountains, and the city enjoys a comfortable climate. The

Terman, Lewis M(adison)

2005-03-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Terman joined the faculty of Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. (1910), where he became professor of education in 1916, the year he published The Measurement of Intelligence, a guide for his Stanford revision and

Pius Ii

2005-03-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

Original name Enea Silvio Piccolomini outstanding Italian humanist and astute politician who as pope (reigned 1458–64) tried to unite Europe in a crusade against the Turks at a time when they threatened to overrun all of Europe. He wrote voluminously about the events of his day.

Bacillite

2005-03-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

In geology, a type of crystallite (q.v.).

Ryle, Gilbert

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

Ryle gained first-class honours at Queen's College, Oxford, and became a lecturer at Christ Church College in 1924. Throughout his career, which remained centred at Oxford, he attempted—as Waynflete professor of metaphysical

Naga

2005-03-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Naga (“serpent”), in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, a member of a class of semidivine beings, half human and half serpentine. They are considered to be a strong, handsome race who can assume either human or wholly serpentine form. They are regarded as being potentially dangerous but in some ways are superior to humans. They live in an underground kingdom called Naga-loka, or Patala-loka,

Qedesha

2005-03-18T16:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled kedesha or kedeshah , Akkadian qadishtu one of a class of sacred prostitutes found throughout the ancient Middle East, especially in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292–c. 1075 BC). Her representation

Colditz Castle

2005-03-18T04:35:00.000-08:00

German Schloss Colditz, German prisoner-of-war camp in World War II, the site of many daring escape attempts by Allied officers. The castle sits on a steep hill overlooking the Mulde River as it flows through the small Saxon town of Colditz, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Leipzig. A former residence of the kings of Saxony, the castle was used in 1939 as a prisoner-of-war camp, and in 1940 it became a maximum security

Bridges, Robert (seymour)

2005-03-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

From 1869 until 1882 Bridges

Stein, Gertrude

2005-03-17T03:14:00.000-08:00

Stein spent her infancy in Vienna and in Passy, France, and her girlhood in Oakland, California. She entered the Society for the

Avignon Papacy

2005-03-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

Distressed by factionalism in Rome and pressed to come to France by Philip IV, Pope Clement V moved the papal capital to Avignon, which at that time belonged to vassals of the pope. In 1348 it became direct papal property.

London, Tower Of

2005-03-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

Immediately

Sisaket

2005-03-16T06:10:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Si Sa Ket, or Srisaket, town, eastern Thailand. Sisaket lies on the railway between Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani. The surrounding area is one of Thailand's poorest regions; rice and tobacco are the main products. The region borders Cambodia and has a substantial Khmer-speaking population. Pop. (1986 est.) town, 21,577.

Wolgemut, Michael

2005-03-16T05:26:00.000-08:00

After an obscure early period Wolgemut married (1472) Barbara, widow of the Nürnberg painter Hans Pleydenwurff. In the next 40 years he produced a series of large altarpieces, rich with carving and gilding, as well as portraits and book illustrations. The altarpiece of St. Jacob, Straubing,

Pitot, Henri

2005-03-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Beginning his career as a mathematician and astronomer, Pitot won election to the Academy of Sciences in 1724. He became interested in the problem of flow of water in rivers and canals and discovered that much contemporary theory was erroneous—for example,

Pueblo Indians

2005-03-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

The historic descendants of the prehistoric Anasazi peoples (see Anasazi culture) who live in several locations in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico in compact, permanent settlements known as pueblos (Spanish pueblo, “village” or “town”). Just as there was considerable regional diversity among the prehistoric Anasazi, there is similar diversity,

Ghi

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

Also spelled Ghee, clarified butter, a staple food on the Indian subcontinent. See butterfat.

Adalbero Of Ardennes

2005-03-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

Adalbero, a native of Lorraine, had opposed the attempts of the Carolingian king of France, Lothair, to gain Lorraine from the Holy Roman emperor Otto

Adamawa

2005-03-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

Traditional emirate centred in what is now Adamawa state, eastern Nigeria. The emirate was founded by Modibbo Adama, who was one of Sheikh Usman dan Fodio's commanders and who began a Fulani jihad (holy war) in 1809 against the non-Muslim peoples of the region. Adama moved the capital of his kingdom, which was then known as Fumbina, several times before settling it finally in

Norilsk

2005-03-12T02:51:00.000-08:00

City, Krasnoyarsk kray (region), central Russia, in the Rybnaya Valley amid the Putoran Mountains. Founded in 1935, Norilsk lies north of the Arctic Circle and is one of the world's leading producing centres for nickel and platinum. Copper is also mined. Power is supplied to Norilsk by hydroelectric plants on the Khantayka and Kureyka rivers, and natural gas is piped from northern

San Francisco, Exploration and early settlement

2005-03-11T05:15:00.000-08:00

It is extraordinary that the site of San Francisco should have been explored first by land instead of from the sea, for San Francisco Bay is one of the most splendid natural harbours of the world, yet great captains and explorers—Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1542–43), Sir Francis Drake (1579), and Sebastián Vizcaíno (1602)—sailed unheeding past the entrance. In 1769 a scouting party from an expedition

Conon

2005-03-11T03:15:00.000-08:00

Conon was admiral in each of

Indian Museum

2005-03-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

In Calcutta, oldest museum in India and one of the most comprehensive in the Orient; its collections depict the cultural history of India from prehistoric to Muslim times. The present building, opened in 1875, comprises sections devoted to geology, zoology, industry, archaeology, art, and ethnology. The coin room contains the largest collection of Indian coins in the

Aechmea

2005-03-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Genus of epiphytes (plants that are supported by other plants and have aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), with more than 140 species distributed in South America. Spiny-edged leaves, usually about 30 to 60 cm (about 12 to 24 inches) long, grow in a rosette from the root. A spike of red and yellow flowers, often with blue

Portugal, Pre-Roman, Roman, Germanic, and Muslim periods

2005-03-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

The earliest human remains found in Portugal are Neanderthal-type bones from Furninhas. A distinct culture first emerges in the Mesolithic middens of the lower Tagus valley, dated about 5500 BC. Neolithic cultures entered from Andalusia. There are varied types of beehive huts and passage graves: agriculture, pottery, and the working of soft metals followed by the same

Kamen-na-obi

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

City and administrative centre of Kamensky rayon (sector), Altay kray (region), south-central Russia. A port on the Ob River, it was founded in 1670 and designated an urban settlement in 1915 and became a city in 1925. Its economic base is the food-processing industry; other factories produce bricks and furniture. Teacher-training and veterinary colleges are located in the city. Pop. (1993 est.)

Biblical Literature, The divided monarchy: from Jeroboam I to the Assyrian conquest

2005-03-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Jeroboam I, the first king of the new state of Israel, made his capital first at Shechem, then at Tirzah. Recognizing the need for religious independence from Jerusalem, he set up official sanctuaries at Dan and Bethel, at the two ends of his realm, installing in them golden calves (or bulls), for which he is castigated in the anti-northern account in the First Book of the Kings.

Lutheran Church In America

2005-03-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

Lutheran church in North America that in 1988 merged with two other Lutheran churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (q.v.).

Interior Design, Japan

2005-03-07T15:58:00.000-08:00

Interior decoration in Japan was much influenced by Chinese ideas, especially between the 8th and 12th centuries, but it developed along lighter, more austere and elegant lines. It has altered little since medieval days. The most important differences in modern design are that the matting has been extended to cover the whole of the wooden floor, and sliding doors have

Khanty And Mansi

2005-03-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

Their present-day territory

Ancón

2005-03-07T05:39:00.000-08:00

City, central Panama, just northeast of Balboa city. It is a residential and medical centre. As Balboa and Panama City have grown, Ancón has become virtually a suburb of the latter. It is noted for the Gorgas Hospital for tropical diseases, named after Colonel William Crawford Gorgas, a U.S. Army surgeon who eradicated yellow fever from the Canal Zone. Ancón is also the site

Arctic Ocean

2005-03-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

The Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas (the Chukchi, East Siberian, Laptev, Kara, Barents, White, Greenland, and Beaufort; some oceanographers also include the Bering and Norwegian Seas) are the least-known basins and bodies of water in the world ocean owing to their remoteness, hostile weather, and

Bashir Shihab Ii

2005-03-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

Although born into the princely Shihab family, Bashir grew up in poverty but married into great wealth. In 1788 the Lebanese emir was forced to abdicate, and the local nobility selected

Costa Brava

2005-03-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Coastal region of the comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain, extending for about 75 miles (120 km) along the Mediterranean Sea from the French border at Port-Bou to the Spanish bathing resort of Blanes, thus coinciding with the coast of Gerona province. This part of the Spanish coast was almost unknown to tourists until the 1920s, when the

Amadeus Vi

2005-03-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

Son of Aimone the Peaceful, count of Savoy, Amadeus ascended the throne at the age of nine. He crossed the Alps in 1348 to put down a revolt of Piedmontese cities and won a victory over rebellious inhabitants of the Valais (east of Geneva) in 1352. In 1355 he married

Grundy, Mrs.

2005-03-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

Imaginary English character who typifies the censorship enacted in everyday life by conventional opinion. She first appears (but never onstage) in Thomas Morton's play Speed the Plough (produced 1798), in which one character, Dame Ashfield, continually worries about what her neighbour Mrs. Grundy will say of each development. Since then the term Mrs. Grundy has passed into

Arenite

2005-03-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

Any sedimentary rock that consists of sand-sized particles (0.06–2 millimetres [0.0024–0.08 inch] in diameter), irrespective of composition. More formal nomenclature of such rocks is based on composition, particle size, and mode of origin—e.g., sandstone, arkose, quartzite, graywacke, and subgraywacke.

Gamelin, Maurice(-gustave)

2005-03-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

Gamelin graduated from the Saint-Cyr military academy in 1893 and ended World War I as a brigadier general in command of a division. He rose steadily after the war, becoming

Computers, The Jacquard loom

2005-03-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

Calculators such as the Arithmometer remained a fascination after 1820, and their potential for commercial use was well understood. Many other mechanical devices built during the 19th century also performed repetitive functions more or less automatically, but few had any application to computing. There was one major exception: the Jacquard loom, invented in 1804–05 by a French

Sa-skya-pa

2005-03-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sakyapa Tibetan Buddhist sect that takes its name from the great Sa-skya (Sakya) monastery founded in 1073, 50 miles (80 km) north of Mount Everest. The sect follows the teachings of the noted traveler and scholar 'Brog-mi (992–1072). He translated into Tibetan the important Tantric work Hevajra Tantra, which remains one of the basic texts of the order. He also transmitted into Tibet from India the teachings

Tall Tale

2005-03-01T16:48:00.000-08:00

Narrative that depicts the wild adventures of extravagantly exaggerated folk heroes. The tall tale is essentially an oral form of entertainment; the audience appreciates the imaginative invention rather than the literal meaning of the tales. Associated with the lore of the American frontier, tall tales often explain the origins of lakes, mountains, and canyons;

Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-03-01T08:48:00.000-08:00

Russian poet, scientist, and grammarian who is often considered the first great Russian linguistic reformer. He also made substantial contributions to the natural sciences, reorganized the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences, established in Moscow the university that today bears

Dancehall Music

2005-02-28T23:21:00.000-08:00

The seductive chant of the dancehall deejay—part talking, part singing—came to prominence in the late 1970s but

Sá De Miranda, Francisco De

2005-02-28T09:35:00.000-08:00

The illegitimate son of a canon of Coimbra, Gonçalo Mendes de Sá, and Dona Inês de Melo, he was made legitimate in 1490. He studied at the university, which was then in Lisbon, and seems to have lived mainly in the capital until 1521, frequenting the royal court and taking part in the poetical improvisations

Ant Bear

2005-02-28T03:28:00.000-08:00

Common name sometimes used for the giant anteater and for the aardvark. See anteater; aardvark.

Atwood, Margaret (eleanor)

2005-02-27T23:29:00.000-08:00

In her early poetry

Qutb-ud-din Aybak

2005-02-26T20:31:00.000-08:00

In childhood Qutb was sold as a slave and raised at Nishapur. He came into the possession of Muhammad of Ghur, who put him in charge of the royal stables. Eventually he was appointed to military command, and in 1193, after conquering Delhi, Muhammad returned to Khorasan and left the consolidation of the

Abd Al-hafid

2005-02-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

Appointed caliph of Marrakech by Abd al-Aziz, Abd al-Hafid had no difficulty there in rousing the Muslim community against his brother's Western ways. With Marrakech his, Abd al-Hafid routed his brother's forces and pensioned off the sultan.

Frigidity

2005-02-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

In psychology, the inability of a woman to attain orgasm during sexual intercourse. In popular, nonmedical usage the word has been used traditionally to describe a variety of behaviours, ranging from general coldness of manner or lack of interest in physical affection to aversion to the act of sexual intercourse. Because of the derogatory connotations that have

Aisling

2005-02-24T14:21:00.000-08:00

In Irish literature, a poetic or dramatic description or representation of a vision. The Vision of Adamnán is one of the best-known examples. In the 18th century the aisling became popular as a means of expressing support for the exiled Roman Catholic king James II of England and Ireland and for the restoration of the Roman Catholic Stuart line to the throne. The word

David D'angers, Pierre-jean

2005-02-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

The son of a carver, David went to Paris at age 17 with 11 francs in his pocket to study under Philippe-Laurent Roland. After a year and a half's struggle he received a small annuity from the municipality of Angers. In 1811 he won the Prix de Rome

Ace, Goodman

2005-02-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

From childhood Ace wanted to be a writer, and his writing was admired by his teachers. He was editor of his high school newspaper when he met

Buckingham, George Villiers, 2nd Duke Of

2005-02-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

His father, the 1st Duke of Buckingham,

Philip Ii

2005-02-22T01:23:00.000-08:00

Characteristically, Philip declined the trial of strength, prepared to wait for six years until he could gain Thermopylae by negotiation and without striking a blow. Meanwhile his Thessalian victory earned him election as president (archon) of the Thessalian League (probably 352), a position unique for a foreigner in a Greek confederation and one that was to bind Thessaly

Steamboat Springs

2005-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1877) of Routt county, north-central Colorado, U.S. Located in the high Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 6,762 feet (2,061 metres), the town was supposedly named for Steamboat Spring, reported to have recalled to trappers the chugging of a steamboat. The area was settled by whites in 1875 and was largely given over to ranching and timbering; the town served as a commercial centre. In

Displacement

2005-02-21T02:59:00.000-08:00

In mechanics, distance moved by a particle or body in a specific direction. It is a vector quantity, possessing both magnitude and direction. In the Figure, A is the initial position of a point, B is the final position, and the vector directed from A to B is the displacement. The distance traveled by the point depends on the path that it follows; it will be equal to the magnitude

Biblical Literature, Greek versions

2005-02-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

The first New Testament was done by Maximus of Gallipoli in 1638 (at Geneva?). The British

Mignet, François

2005-02-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Educated at Avignon, Mignet became professor there in 1815; he returned to Aix for his law studies and was called to the bar in 1818. His first work, the Essai sur les institutions de Saint Louis, was acclaimed by the Academy of Inscriptions

United Arab Emirates

2005-02-19T06:20:00.000-08:00

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the dominant tribal faction was the Al-Qawasim (singular: Qasimi), whose ships controlled the maritime commerce (notably fishing and pearling) concentrated in

France, History Of, Political ideology

2005-02-19T01:52:00.000-08:00

A strong element in Calvin's teaching was the importance of passive obedience to secular authority—an idea that became impossible for the Huguenots to support after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's

Biblical Literature, Joshua

2005-02-19T01:35:00.000-08:00

The Book of Joshua takes its name from the man who succeeded Moses as the leader of the Hebrew tribes—Joshua, the son of Nun, a member of the tribe of Ephraim. In post-biblical times Joshua himself was credited with being the author of the book, though internal evidence gives no such indication. According to the views of the German biblical scholar Martin Noth, which have

Buhturi, Al-

2005-02-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Al-Buhturi devoted his early poetry, written between the ages of 16 and 19, to his tribe, the Tayyi'. Sometime after 840 he came to the attention of the prominent poet Abu Tammam, who encouraged his panegyrics and brought him to the caliphal capital of Baghdad. Al-Buhturi met with little success there and returned

Ribose

2005-02-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Also called D-ribose, five-carbon sugar found in RNA (ribonucleic acid), where it alternates with phosphate groups to form the “backbone” of the RNA polymer and binds to nitrogenous bases. Ribose phosphates are components of the nucleotide coenzymes and are utilized by microorganisms in the synthesis of the amino acid histidine.

Heir

2005-02-17T21:09:00.000-08:00

One who succeeds to the property of a person dying without a will or who is legally entitled to succeed by right of descent or relationship. In most jurisdictions, statutes of descent determine transfer of title to property if there is no will naming the legatee. In English common law, originally an heir was one who inherited real estate; next of kin inherited personal

Andrade, Mário Pinto De

2005-02-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

While studying classical philology at the University of Lisbon, Andrade, with Agostinho Neto and Amilcar Cabral, formed the Centre for African Studies. He then attended the Sorbonne in Paris, wrote anticolonialist poetry, and was an editor of Présence Africaine (1955–58). Beginning in 1956 he worked

Gyllensten, Lars (johan Wictor)

2005-02-16T09:33:00.000-08:00

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

Amora

2005-02-16T04:22:00.000-08:00

(Hebrew and Aramaic: “interpreter,” or “reciter”), plural Amoraim, in ancient times, a Jewish scholar attached to one of several academies in Palestine (Tiberias, Sepphoris, Caesarea) or in Babylonia (Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita). The amoraim collaborated in writing the Gemara, collected interpretations of and commentaries on the Mishna (the authoritative code of Jewish oral laws) and on its critical marginal notes, called Tosefta (Addition).

Earth, The cause of plate motions

2005-02-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

Plates are thought to move in response to the movement of convection currents. These currents cause a vertical transfer of heat through a mass movement of material. In the Earth, the material that is moving vertically is mantle material, which contains about 5 percent magma between crystalline solids. This amount of liquid allows the mantle material to move more

Pietrasanta

2005-02-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Town, centre of a district known as Versilia, Lucca provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy, at the foot of the Alpi Apuane (mountains) just southeast of Carrara. Its piazza is surrounded by fine buildings including the Cathedral of San Martino and the Church of San Agostino (a baptistery with a medieval font), both dating from the 14th century, and the remains of

Arts, East Asian, Painting and calligraphy

2005-02-14T03:44:00.000-08:00

Settled conditions and a tolerant atmosphere helped to make the Northern Sung a period of great achievement in landscape painting. Li Ch'eng, a follower of Ching Hao who lived a few years into the Sung, was a scholar who defined the soft, billowing earthen formations of the northeastern Chinese terrain with “cloudlike” texture, interior layers of graded ink wash bounded

India, Recreation

2005-02-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

Virtually all regions of India have their distinctive places of pilgrimage, local saints and folk heroes, religious festivals, and associated fairs. There are also innumerable festivals associated with individual villages or temples or with specific castes and cults. The most popular of the religious festivals celebrated over the greater part of India are

Narayanan, Kocheril Raman

2005-02-13T15:10:00.000-08:00

Despite his family's poverty and social status, Narayanan's intellect won him a government-sponsored scholarship. After graduating

Malvana, Convention Of

2005-02-12T22:52:00.000-08:00

The convention also provided that the Ceylonese people should render all traditional services and taxes to their new sovereign. The purpose of the

Ust-orda Buryat

2005-02-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Ust-ordynsky Buryat, autonomous okrug (district) in Irkutsk oblast (province), east-central Russia. It lies west of Lake Baikal and extends across the Angara River. The okrug was created in 1937. Its plateau relief is partly in boreal forest, or taiga, of larch, spruce, fir, pine, and birch and partly in forest-steppe. Coal is mined in the west, where the Trans-Siberian Railroad crosses the okrug. Timber

Goajiro

2005-02-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

Indian people of the Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and adjacent Venezuela. Numbering about 127,000 in the late 20th century, they speak an Arawakan language and are linguistically and culturally distinct from their neighbours to the south, the Arhuaco. The Goajiro are mainly a pastoral people, growing only a little corn (maize) to make chicha (beer). Besides raising

Switzerland, Social welfare

2005-02-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

Public welfare services have developed in a typically federalistic way: first in the communes, then in the cantons, and later in the confederation. Support for the indigent remains mainly a communal task, sometimes in cooperation with the cantons; this poses particular budgetary problems for cities and small rural communities, which have the highest poverty rates.

Somalia, Religion

2005-02-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

Most Somali belong to the Shafi'i rite of the Sunnite sect of Islam. Various Muslim orders (tariqa) are important, especially the Qadiriyah, the Ahmadiyah, and the Salihiyah.

Alkali Feldspar

2005-02-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

Any of several common silicate minerals that often occur as variously coloured, glassy crystals. They are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics; transparent, highly coloured, or iridescent varieties are sometimes used as gemstones. The alkali feldspars are primarily important as constituents of rocks; they are very widespread and abundant in alkali and

Alfonso V

2005-02-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

Byname Alfonso the Magnanimous , Spanish Alfonso el Magnánimo king of Aragon (1416–58) and king of Naples (as Alfonso I, 1442–58), whose military campaigns in Italy and elsewhere in the central Mediterranean made him one of the most famous men of his day. After conquering Naples, he transferred his court there.