FrequentLeaf

Turbot

2005-04-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

(Scophthalmus maximus), broad-bodied European flatfish of the family Scophthalmidae or, in some classifications, Bothidae. A highly valued food fish, the turbot lives along sand and gravel shores. It is a left-sided flatfish, with its eyes normally on the left side of the head, and it is scaleless, though its head and body are studded with numerous bony knobs, or tubercles.

Xenocrates

2005-04-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Xenocrates' writings are lost except for fragments, but his doctrines appear to resemble

Aston, Francis William

2005-04-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

British physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1922 for his development of the mass spectrograph, a device that separates atoms or molecular fragments of different mass and measures those masses with remarkable accuracy. Aston used the mass spectograph to discover a large number of nuclides

National Art Gallery

2005-04-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

In Wellington, N.Z., national collection of paintings by New Zealand and European artists and portraits of prominent New Zealand figures. The gallery grew out of the city's first public art gallery, opened in 1907 by the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts. The basis for the original collection was a group of paintings purchased in England in 1906–07 and another group purchased at the

Boise

2005-04-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

Boise was named by early 19th-century French-Canadian trappers for the tree-lined river (French boisé, “wooded

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Philippians

2005-04-01T04:16:00.000-08:00

In its present canonical form Philippians is, according to several scholars, a later collection of fragments of the correspondence of Paul with the congregation in Philippi that was founded by Paul himself. The first of the two major difficulties leading to this conclusion concerning redaction of the letter is created by a discrepancy between chapters 2 and 3—i.e.,

Avogadro's Law

2005-03-31T11:12:00.000-08:00

The

Aksobhya

2005-03-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

In Mahayana and Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism, one of the five “self-born” Buddhas. See Dhyani-Buddha.

Aesthetics, Expressionism

2005-03-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

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

Jane Seymour

2005-03-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Jane's father was Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, Savernake, Wiltshire. She became a lady in waiting to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and then to Anne Boleyn,

Reformation Day

2005-03-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

Anniversary of the day Martin Luther is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Ger. (Oct. 31, 1517), later identified by Protestants as the beginning of the Reformation. (See Researcher's Note.) The European Lutheran territorial churches at first commemorated the Reformation on various days, among them the anniversary of Luther's

Piteå

2005-03-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

Town and port, län (county) of Norrbotten, northern Sweden. It lies along the Pite River near its outlet on the Gulf of Bothnia. The town was originally chartered at Öjebyn in 1621, but after a fire in 1666 it was moved to its present location. Lying in a forest-rich area, it is a centre for shipping timber and wallboard, and among its industries are sawmilling and others connected with

Term

2005-03-27T14:47:00.000-08:00

In logic, the subject or predicate of a categorical proposition (q.v.), or statement. Aristotle so used the Greek word horos (“limit”), apparently by an analogy between the terms of a proportion and those of a syllogism. Terminus is the Latin translation of this word, used, for example, by the 5th-century Roman philosopher Boethius. Hence in medieval logic the word came to be used

Muhammad Al-mahdi Al-hujjah

2005-03-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Muhammad Al-muntazar, Hidden Imam, or Twelfth Imam (disappeared 878), 12th and last imam, venerated by the Ithna 'Ashariyah, or Twelver sect, the main body of Shi'ite Muslims. It is believed that Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Hujjah has been concealed by God (a doctrine known as ghaybah, or occultation) and that he will reappear in time as the mahdi, or messianic deliverer. See also Ithna 'Ashariyah.

Mollendo

2005-03-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

City, Arequipa departamento and región, Peru, on the Pacific coast. Founded in 1872, its site was chosen by the American engineer Henry Meiggs, builder of the Arequipa-Mollendo Railroad. Additional rail connections to local mines and to Puno and Lake Titicaca, supplemented by its artificial harbour and the Pan-American Highway, have made Mollendo an export-import point

Chrismation

2005-03-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

(from Greek chriein, “to anoint”), in Eastern Christianity, sacrament that, together with baptism, introduces new members into the church. It is the Eastern equivalent of confirmation in the West. A priest anoints the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet of the newly baptized with chrism (myron), a mixture of olive oil and balsam blessed by a bishop, and

Narraganset

2005-03-24T05:30:00.000-08:00

The Narraganset maintained good relations with whites

Black River

2005-03-24T04:48:00.000-08:00

River in southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas, U.S., rising in the Ozark Mountains in Reynolds county, Mo. It flows southeasterly to Poplar Bluff, Mo., and then continues southwest to enter the White River near Newport, Ark., after a course of 280 miles (450 km). Limited navigation is possible for shallow-draft vessels in the lower 15 miles (25 km) of its course. Its main tributary is

Veneti

2005-03-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

The chief Venetic settlement was Este (later the Roman colony of Ateste), which was

Wesel

2005-03-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

Town, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies along the Rhine and Lippe rivers and the Lippe-Seiten Canal, northwest of the Ruhr. Chartered in 1241, it joined the Hanseatic League in about 1350 and has long been an important trade and shipping point. It was also a traditional district capital and cultural centre of the border area of the lower Rhine. The

World War I, The Western Front, JanuaryMay 1917

2005-03-21T17:37:00.000-08:00

The western Allies had good reason to be profoundly dissatisfied with the poor results of their enterprises of 1916, and this dissatisfaction was signalized by two major changes made at the end of the year. In Great Britain, the government of H.H. Asquith, already turned into a coalition in May 1915, was replaced in December 1916 by a coalition under David Lloyd George; and that same

Tactics

2005-03-21T04:42:00.000-08:00

This article discusses the tactics of land warfare. For treatment of tactics on sea, see naval

Steichen, Edward

2005-03-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Pioneer of American photography who, with Alfred Stieglitz, was a leader of the Photo-Secession Group. His style evolved from painterly impressionism to a sharp realism after World War I. His portraits of artists and celebrities from the 1920s and '30s are remarkable evocations of character. In 1955 he organized the “Family of Man” exhibition

Insurance, Property insurance

2005-03-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

Two main types of contracts—homeowner's and commercial—have been developed to insure against loss from accidental destruction of property. These contracts (or forms) typically are divided into three or four parts: insuring agreements, identification of covered property, conditions and stipulations, and exclusions.

Culverin

2005-03-19T02:24:00.000-08:00

The culverin was adapted to field use by the French in the mid-15th century and to naval use by the English in the late 16th century. During the 17th century, cannons were classified according to the weight of projectiles fired, and

Taal Lake

2005-03-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

Lake in southwestern Luzon, Philippines, occupying a volcanic crater with a maximum width of 15 miles (24 km), at less than 10 feet (3 m) above sea level. It has an area of 94 square miles (244 square km) and is the country's third largest lake. Within the lake rises Volcano Island (984 feet [300 m]), which itself contains another small crater (Yellow Lake). Volcano Island, called Taal Volcano, has erupted 25 times

Arakanese

2005-03-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

Member of a Myanmar (Burmese) ethnic group centred in the Arakan coastal region of southern Myanmar (Burma). The Arakanese are Buddhists of Myanmar stock and possess a dialect and customs of their own. Separated from the parent group in central Myanmar by the mountains of the Arakan Yoma, they trace their history to 2666 BC, have had a lineal succession of as many as 227 princes, and

Henry, William

2005-03-17T02:04:00.000-08:00

Henry took his doctor of medicine degree at Edinburgh (1807). When ill health forced him

Abel, John Jacob

2005-03-16T13:06:00.000-08:00

Abel taught at the University of Michigan, Ann

Biblical Literature, Bel and the Dragon

2005-03-16T07:18:00.000-08:00

The third Greek addition to the Book of Daniel is the story of Bel and the Dragon. The Babylonians worshipped the idol of the god Bel and daily provided him with much food, but Daniel proved to the King that the food was in reality eaten by the priests. The priests were punished by death and Bel's temple destroyed. The Babylonians also worshipped a dragon, but Daniel declined

Aranyakas

2005-03-16T00:24:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “Books of the Forest”), a later development of the Brahmanas, or expositions of the Vedas, which were composed in India in about 700 BC. The Aranyakas are distinguished from the Brahmanas in that they may contain information on secret rites to be carried out only by certain persons, and more philosophic speculation. Thus they were intended to be studied only by the initiated,

Argentina, The Gran Chaco

2005-03-15T21:35:00.000-08:00

The western Gran Chaco has growths of thorn forest dominated by algaroba (carob trees) in the drier and often saline zones. Quebracho trees (a source of tannin) are present, but not to the extent that they are farther east. No plants survive in areas with finer salt at the surface. Coarse bunchgrasses are common in the dry steppe, which also supports dense scrub forests

Benda, Julien

2005-03-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

Benda graduated from the University of Paris in 1894. Among his first writings were articles (1898) on the Dreyfus affair. His lifelong

Vision Quest

2005-03-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

Among the American Indian hunters of the eastern woodlands and the Great Plains, an essential part of a young boy's (or, more rarely, a girl's) initiation into adulthood. The youth was sent out from the camp on a solitary vigil involving fasting and prayer in order to gain some sign of the presence and nature of his guardian spirit (q.v.). The specific techniques varied from

Endocrine System, Subphylum Cephalochordata

2005-03-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

The cephalochordate brain contains neurosecretory neurons that possibly are related to a structure called Hatschek's pit, located near the brain. Hatschek's pit appears to be related to the neural gland and hence to the vertebrate pituitary gland. Treatment of amphioxus with GnRH or luteinizing hormone (LH) reportedly stimulates the onset of spermatogenesis

Chromium Processing

2005-03-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Chromium (Cr) is a brilliant, hard, refractory metal that melts at 1,857° C (3,375° F) and boils at 2,672° C (4,842° F). In the pure state, it is resistant to ordinary corrosion, resulting in its application as an electroplated protective coating for other metals. It dissolves in nonoxidizing mineral acids but not in aqua regia or nitric acid, which passivate

Pacific Islands, The island ecosystem

2005-03-13T06:14:00.000-08:00

To know what it is like to live on a Pacific island, the intermixture of physical and biological characteristics of the particular island must be considered. Each of the myriad ecological systems in the Pacific is a unique complex of living organisms and their nonliving environment. Each is a functional system of interacting components that tends toward an equilibrium

Hlothere

2005-03-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

Hlothere appears to have shared power with his nephew Eadric (Egbert's son); a code of law still extant was issued in their joint names. A quarrel between them caused Eadric either to be banished or to flee the kingdom. He returned with an army of South Saxons,

Anaximenes Of Miletus

2005-03-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

Anaximenes substituted aer (“mist,” “vapour,” “air”) for his predecessors'

Furniture

2005-03-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

Dyer, John

2005-03-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

British poet chiefly remembered for “Grongar Hill” (1726), a short descriptive and meditative poem, in the manner of Alexander Pope's “Windsor-Forest,” in which he portrays the countryside largely in terms of classical landscape. The poet describes the view from a hill overlooking the vale of Towy

Port Harcourt

2005-03-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Port town and capital of Rivers state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the Bonny River (an eastern distributary of the Niger River) 41 miles (66 km) upstream from the Gulf of Guinea. Founded in 1912 in an area traditionally inhabited by the Ijo people, it began to serve as a port (named for Lewis Harcourt, then colonial secretary) after the opening of the rail link to the Enugu coalfields

Spanish Succession, War Of The

2005-03-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

(1701–14), conflict that arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. In an effort to regulate the impending succession, to which there were three principal claimants, England, the Dutch Republic, and France had in October 1698 signed the First Treaty of Partition, agreeing that on the

Sackville

2005-03-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

Town, Westmorland county, southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies near the Nova Scotia border, 27 miles (43 km) southeast of Moncton. Three French villages occupied the site about 1720, but these were destroyed with the capture of nearby Fort Beauséjour (Fort Cumberland) and the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755. Resettled in 1761 by New England immigrants, the community was named after

Raymond Vi

2005-03-08T22:49:00.000-08:00

The son of Count Raymond V, Raymond VI was a nephew of King Louis VII of France and brother-in-law of King Richard I of England. Tolerant toward the many

Ealdred

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

Ealdred became abbot of Tavistock, Devon, about 1027, and bishop of Worcester in 1046. Made archbishop of York by Pope Nicholas

Zionist Church

2005-03-08T03:06:00.000-08:00

The use of the term Zion derives from the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion, founded in Chicago in 1896 and having missionaries in South Africa by

Kuchma, Leonid

2005-03-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1960, Kuchma embarked on a career as an engineer, serving as Communist

Gandhara Art

2005-03-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

The Gandhara region

Spain, Phoenicians

2005-03-06T16:36:00.000-08:00

Venerable historical traditions recount the Phoenician voyages to found new cities. Utica, on the Tunisian coast of North Africa, was reputedly founded in 1178 BC, and by 1100 BC the Phoenician city of Tyre supposedly had a Spanish colony at Gadir (Cadiz). Although intriguing, these historical traditions are unsupported by evidence. Excavations confirm that the Phoenicians settled

Rio De Janeiro

2005-03-06T10:12:00.000-08:00

Estado (“state”) of southeastern Brazil, bounded by the states of Espírito Santo (north), Minas Gerais (west), and São Paulo (southwest), while to the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. It is named for the city of Rio de Janeiro, the state capital, which was the capital of Brazil from 1763 to 1960 and remains the nation's main centre for cultural events, leisure, and tourism. It is Brazil's second largest

La Salle, René-robert Cavelier, Sieur (lord) De

2005-03-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

French explorer in North America, who led an expedition down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and claimed all the region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries for Louis XIV of France, naming the region “Louisiana.” A few years later, in a luckless expedition seeking the mouth of the Mississippi, he

Turan Plain

2005-03-05T09:07:00.000-08:00

Uzbek Turon extensive lowland in southwestern Kazakhstan and northwestern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It is bounded by the Saryarqa (Kazakh uplands) in the north, the outliers of the Tien Shan, Pamir, and Alay mountains in the east, the Kopet-Dag Range in the south, and the Caspian Sea in the west. It is traversed by the lower courses of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, both of which drain

Tea Ceremony

2005-03-04T13:50:00.000-08:00

The ceremony takes place in a tea house (cha-shitsu), which ideally is a small structure detached from the

Azorín

2005-03-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

Azorín studied law at Valencia, Granada,

Adynaton

2005-03-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

A kind of hyperbole in which the exaggeration is so great that it refers to an impossibility, as in the following lines from Andrew Marvell's “To His Coy Mistress”:Had we but world enough, and timeThis coyness, lady, were no crime.We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love's day.Thou by the Indian Ganges' sideShouldst rubies find; I by the tideOf Humber

Aethelberht

2005-03-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

King of the West Saxons, or Wessex, who succeeded to the subkingdom of Kent during the lifetime of his father Aethelwulf and retained it until the death of his elder brother Aethelbald in 860, when he became sole king of Wessex and Kent, the younger brothers Aethelred and Alfred renouncing their claim. He ruled these kingdoms for five years. His reign was marked by two serious

Augustinian

2005-03-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

Also called Austin, in the Roman Catholic Church, member of any of the religious orders and congregations of men and women whose constitutions are based on the Rule of St. Augustine, instructions on the religious life written by Augustine, the great Western theologian, and widely disseminated after his death, AD 430. More specifically, the name is used to designate members of two main branches

David, Jacques-louis

2005-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

David won wide acclaim with his huge canvases on classical themes (e.g., “Oath of the Horatii,” 1784 [see photograph]). When the French Revolution began in 1789, he served briefly as its artistic director

Cabedelo

2005-03-01T04:03:00.000-08:00

City, eastern Paraíba estado (“state”), northeastern Brazil. Built on the site of the 17th-century fortress of Santa Rita, Cabedelo lies on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Paraíba River and serves as the port for João Pessoa, the state capital, approximately 12 miles (20 km) by rail and highway to the southeast. Cotton, agave fibres, sugar, and various minerals are handled at the

Anderson, Margaret

2005-03-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

Anderson was reared in a conventional Midwestern home and educated at Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio. She renounced the "bourgeois" values

Ashes

2005-02-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

Symbol of victory in the usually biennial cricket Test (international) match series between select national teams of England and Australia, first staged in 1877. Its name stems from an epitaph published in 1882 after the Australian team had won its first victory over England in England, at the Oval, London. The epitaph lamented that English cricket was dead and that its body

Olm

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

(Proteus anguinus), blind salamander belonging to the family Proteidae (order Caudata) and found in caves of the Carpathian Mountains in southeastern Europe. It grows to about 30 cm (12 inches) long and has a normally white (unpigmented) body, tiny limbs, red gill plumes, narrow head, and a blunt snout. The olm's vestigial but light-sensitive eyes are covered with skin. It usually

Arts, Central Asian, The study of Central Asian music

2005-02-26T06:49:00.000-08:00

In the West the study of Central Asian music has until recently been restricted largely to travellers' accounts and analyses of small samples of music. By far the bulk of collection and study of Central Asian music of Turkistan and Siberia lay in the domain of Soviet scholars, who instituted systematic fieldwork as early as the 1920s; this literature remains largely

Toadfish

2005-02-26T06:18:00.000-08:00

Any of about 45 species of bottom-living fishes constituting the family Batrachoididae and the order Batrachoidiformes. They are found chiefly in the New World and mostly in warm seas—occasionally in freshwater. Toadfishes are heavy-bodied fishes with broad, flattened heads and large mouths equipped with strong teeth. They grow to a maximum of about 40 cm (16 inches) and

Ernest Augustus

2005-02-26T04:23:00.000-08:00

Ernest Augustus studied at Göttingen, entered the Hanoverian army, and served as a leader of cavalry when war broke out between Great Britain and France in 1793. When Hanover withdrew from the war in 1795 he returned to England, being made lieutenant general in

Sensory Reception, Human, Approaches to the study of sensing

2005-02-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

The science of the human senses is truly interdisciplinary. Philosophers, physicians, anatomists, physical scientists, physiologists, psychologists, and others have all joined in studying sensory activities. Some of their earliest work was anatomical, an approach that continues to be fruitful. Physical scientists, particularly physicists and chemists, made

Coleopteran

2005-02-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

Any member of the insect order Coleoptera, which includes the beetles and weevils. It is the largest order of insects, representing about 40 percent of the known insect species. Among the approximately 250,000 species of Coleoptera are many of the largest and most conspicuous insects, some of which also have brilliant metallic colours, showy patterns, or striking form. Beetles

Maine De Biran, Marie-françois-pierre

2005-02-24T14:57:00.000-08:00

After defending King Louis XVI at

Earnhardt, Dale

2005-02-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

Ralph Earnhardt, Dale's father, raced stock cars in the American southeast during the 1960s and helped to foster his son's passion for the sport. The younger Earnhardt dropped

Gregory, Horace

2005-02-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

Gregory began to write poetry while studying Latin in college, and he first contributed to periodicals in the early 1920s. Finding formal verse inadequate, he tried to combine the idiom of modern life with literary influences

Aalsmeer

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

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, western Netherlands, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Amsterdam, on the Ring Canal and Westeinder Lake, a remnant of Haarlem Lake. The older part of the town is on peaty soil at about sea level, surrounded by polders with loamy soil 9–15 feet (3–5 m) below sea level. Once known for its eels, whence its name (aal, “eel”; meer, “lake”), it is the flower-growing centre

Gulfport

2005-02-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

City, coseat (with nearby Biloxi) of Harrison county, southern Mississippi, U.S., about 55 miles (90 km) east of New Orleans, Louisiana. Gulfport is a port of entry on Mississippi Sound, an embayment of the Gulf of Mexico. It was founded in 1887 by Captain William H. Hardy as the site for the terminus of his Gulf and Ship Island Railroad. In 1902 Captain Joseph T. Jones assumed control of the line,

Monad

2005-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

(from Greek monas “unit”), an elementary individual substance that reflects the order of the world and from which material properties are derived. The term was first used by the Pythagoreans as the name of the beginning number of a series, from which all following numbers derived. Giordano Bruno in De monade, numero et figura liber (1591; “On the Monad, Number, and Figure”) described

Cynegils

2005-02-21T01:15:00.000-08:00

With his son Cwichelm (d. 636), Cynegils defeated the advancing Britons at Bampton in Oxfordshire in 614, and Cwichelm sought to arrest the growing power of the Northumbrian king Eadwine by procuring his assassination. The attempt, however, failed, and in 626 the West Saxons were defeated

Spooner, John (coit)

2005-02-20T01:31:00.000-08:00

Spooner moved to Wisconsin as a youth. After service in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was admitted to the bar (1867). He began a law practice at Hudson, Wis., and eventually became best known in legal circles as counsel for railroad interests.

Kyakhta

2005-02-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

Also spelled K'achta, formerly (until 1934) Troitskosavsk, town, Buryatiya, south-central Russia. It lies in the basin of the Selenga River, on the frontier with Mongolia. The town is on the railway and motor road from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar; both routes follow an ancient caravan track that was the only recognized link between Russia and China in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Russian fortress of Troitskosavsk, founded in 1728 adjacent

Bahr Az-zaraf

2005-02-19T04:37:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bahr el-Zaraf , English Giraffe River river, an arm of the Nile River in as-Sudd region of south-central Sudan. It is formed in the swamps north of Shambe, diverting water from the Bahr al-Jabal (Mountain Nile), and flows 150 miles (240 km) north, past Fangak, to join the Bahr al-Jabal, 35 miles (56 km) west of Malakal. It is not navigable but is permanently connected to the Bahr al-Jabal by two cuts dredged where the streams are close

Pinski, David

2005-02-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

Reared in Moscow, Vitebsk, and Vienna, Pinski moved as a young man to Warsaw, where he became a friend of the leading Yiddish writer Isaac Peretz. It was also in Warsaw that Pinski began his lifelong associations with the Jewish workers' movement. His first short story, “Der Groyser

Vaisali

2005-02-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Pali Vesali city of ancient India, north of Patna, northwestern Bihar state, on the Gandak River. In antiquity Vaisali was the capital of the Licchavi republic and was closely associated with the early histories of both Buddhism and Jainism. Roads connected it with Rajagrha to the south and Kapilavastu and Sravasti to the north. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was born in Vaisali and spent much

Mathematics, Foundations Of, Nonconstructive arguments

2005-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Another criticism of the Cantor-Frege program was raised by Kronecker, who objected to nonconstructive arguments, such as the following proof that there exist irrational numbers a and b such that ab is rational. If

Mona Island

2005-02-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

Spanish Isla Mona, island lying west of Puerto Rico. It is in the centre of the Mona Passage about 45 miles (70 km) west of Mayagüez. About 6 miles (10 km) long, 4 miles (6.5 km) wide, and 20 square miles (52 square km) in area, the island is a limestone plateau. There is little vegetation, though there has been some reforestation. Despite the island's excellent beaches and fishing, attempts by the Puerto Rican government

Udon Thani

2005-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

Town, northeastern Thailand, near the northern (Laotian) border. Udon Thani is the major town of the northern Khorat Plateau and is served by road, rail, and air. The surrounding area produces rice, livestock, timber, and freshwater fish. Pop. (1986 est.) 82,706.

Cone-headed Grasshopper

2005-02-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Each species has a characteristic

Lizard, Locomotion and limb adaptations

2005-02-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

The majority of lizards are quadrupedal, with powerful limb musculature. They are capable of rapid acceleration and possess great ability to change direction of motion rapidly. The racerunners (Cnemidophorus) can attain speeds of 24 kilometres (15 miles) per hour, which, in terms of their own body length, puts them in a class with fast terrestrial mammals. A tendency toward

Camargo Society

2005-02-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Group credited with keeping ballet alive in England during the early 1930s. Named after Marie Camargo, the noted 18th-century ballerina, the society was formed in 1930 by Philip J.S. Richardson, the editor of Dancing Times, the critic Arnold Haskell, and other patrons to stimulate interest in creating a national ballet. For the next three years the group annually commissioned

Muhammad, The emigration from Mecca to Medina

2005-02-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

In the summer of 621, 12 men from Medina, visiting Mecca for the annual pilgrimage to the Ka'bah (still a pagan shrine), secretly professed themselves Muslims to Muhammad and went back to make propaganda for him at Medina. At the pilgrimage in June 622 a representative party of 75 persons from Medina, including two women, not merely professed Islam but also took an oath to defend Muhammad

Gonyaulax

2005-02-15T04:16:00.000-08:00

Genus of dinoflagellates (single-celled aquatic organisms) that inhabit fresh, salt, or brackish water. Members are covered by closely fitting cellulose plates and have two flagella: one extends downward from a longitudinal groove in the armour, and the other, in an encircling groove, appears to keep the animal afloat. There is no eyespot (stigma), and the pigment-containing

Azuchi-momoyama Period

2005-02-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Also called Momoyama Period (1574–1600), in Japanese history, age of political unification under the daimyo Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who finally brought all provinces under the control of the central government. In contrast to the restraint of the preceding Muromachi, or Ashikaga, period (1338–1573), it was an age of magnificence and ostentation. The building of great castles and mansions

Delibes, (clément-philibert-)léo

2005-02-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

French opera and ballet composer who was the first to write music of high quality for the ballet. His pioneering symphonic work for the ballet opened up a field for serious composers, and his influence can be traced in the work of Tchaikovsky and others who wrote for the dance. His own music—light, graceful, elegant, with a tendency

Ocean, Spreading centre zones and associated phenomena

2005-02-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

Spreading centres are divided

Earth Exploration, Gravity methods

2005-02-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

The gravity field of the Earth can be measured by timing the free fall of an object in a vacuum, by measuring the period of a pendulum, or in various other ways. Today almost all gravity surveying is done with gravimeters. Such an instrument typically consists of a weight attached to a spring that stretches or contracts corresponding to an increase or decrease in gravity.

Vis

2005-02-12T10:25:00.000-08:00

Italian Lissa, Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, the outermost major island of the Dalmatian archipelago. Its area is 35 square miles (90 square km), and its highest point is Mount Hum, at 1,926 feet (587 m). Its climate and vegetation are Mediterranean and subtropical, with palms, Mediterranean pines, citrus, eucalyptus, cacti, and early vegetables. Fishing and canning are economically important.

Knickerbocker School

2005-02-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

Group of writers active in and around New York City during the first half of the 19th century. Taking its name from Washington Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York (1809), the group, whose affiliation was more a regional than an aesthetic matter, sought to promote a genuinely American national culture and establish New York City as its literary centre. The most important

Racer

2005-02-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Any of several large, swift snakes belonging to the family Colubridae. Blue racers are central and western North American subspecies of Coluber constrictor; they are plain bluish, greenish blue, gray, or brownish, sometimes with yellow bellies. The eastern subspecies is called black snake; it is all black except for its whitish chin and throat.

Amiternum

2005-02-10T04:09:00.000-08:00

In ancient Italy, a Sabine town 5 miles (8 km) north of present L'Aquila in the Aterno (ancient Aternus) River valley. It was stormed by the Romans in 293 BC, but the fertility of its fields helped it to regain its prosperity under the empire (after 27 BC). The Roman historian Sallust was born there in 86 BC. Amiternum was located at the junction of four roads—the Via Caecilia, the Via Claudia Nova,

United Kingdom, The golden age of Bede

2005-02-10T02:22:00.000-08:00

Within a century of Augustine's landing, England was in the forefront of scholarship. This high standard arose from a combination of influences: that from Ireland, which had escaped the decay caused elsewhere by the barbarian invasions, and that from the Mediterranean, which reached England mainly through Archbishop Theodore and his companion, the abbot Adrian

Price, Lloyd

2005-02-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Price's recording of his composition

Shields, Carol

2005-02-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

Shields grew up in the United States and in 1957 graduated from Hanover College in Indiana. That same year she married and moved to Canada. After taking a course in creative

Anshar And Kishar

2005-02-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian mythology, the male and female principles, the twin horizons of sky and earth. Their parents were either Apsu (the watery deep beneath the earth) and Tiamat (the personification of salt water) or Lahmu and Lahamu, the first set of twins born to Apsu and Tiamat. Anshar and Kishar, in turn, were the parents of Anu (An), the supreme heaven god.