NaturalRoot

Puerto Princesa

2005-03-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

City, east-central Palawan, Philippines. It is an important port on a sheltered inlet of the Sulu Sea, south of Honda Bay, and it has an airport. The city was formerly called Cuyo. The site of a penal colony during the Spanish regime, Puerto Princesa has become one of several resettlement sites on the island for migrants from Luzon and the western Visayan region. Copra, lumber,

Abraham Bar Hiyya

2005-03-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

In addition to translating scientific

Blood River, Battle Of

2005-03-29T02:22:00.000-08:00

(Dec. 16, 1838), South African battle between the Zulu and the Voortrekkers (the Boers who made the Great Trek from Cape Colony to Transvaal). It was fought on the banks of a tributary of the Buffalo River, which became known as Blood River after its water reddened with the slaughter of about 3,000 Zulu. Four Boers were wounded. This battle turned Voortrekker fortunes in Natal, at a low ebb

Kodiak Bear

2005-03-28T06:02:00.000-08:00

(Ursus arctos middendorffi), variety of grizzly bear found on Kodiak Island, off the coast of Alaska. It is the largest of living land carnivores. See grizzly bear.

Typography

2005-03-28T02:08:00.000-08:00

The design, or selection, of letter forms to be organized into words and sentences to be disposed in blocks of type as printing upon a page. Typography and the typographer who practices it may also be concerned with other, related matters—the selection of paper, the choice of ink, the method of printing, the design of the binding if the product at hand is a book—but the word

Ribeirão Prêto

2005-03-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of northeastern São Paulo state, Brazil, at 1,700 feet (520 m) above sea level, on the Prêto River, a tributary of the Pardo River. Founded in 1856 and formerly called Entre Rios and São Sebastião do Ribeirão Prêto, the settlement was given town status in 1870 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1871. It was long renowned as a colonization and coffee-growing centre. Now

Biblical Literature, Anglo-Saxon versions

2005-03-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

For about seven centuries after the conversion of England to Christianity (beginning in the 3rd century), the common man had no direct access to the text of the Scriptures. Ignorant of Latin, his knowledge was derived principally from sermons and metrical prose paraphrases and summaries. The earliest poetic rendering of any part of the Bible is credited to Caedmon

Dolores River

2005-03-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

River in southwest Colorado, U.S., rising in the La Plata Mountains and flowing southwest through deep canyons, past Dolores, then northwest through Paradox Valley, at the north end of which it is met by its chief tributary, the San Miguel River. It continues on past Gateway and across the Utah border to join the Colorado River near Moab after a course of about 250 miles (400 km). Melting

Forchheimer, Philipp

2005-03-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

Austrian hydraulic engineer, one of the most significant contributors to the study of groundwater hydrology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He showed that many of the standard techniques of mathematical physics could be applied to problems of groundwater movement, establishing this subject on a firm scientific

Zahn, Ernst

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

Zahn was at first president of the Diet of the canton of Uri and then manager of a railway

Kidston, Robert

2005-03-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Kidston studied botany at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1880 he became honorary paleobotanist to the British Geological Survey. In this first period

Howard, Jean

2005-03-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

American actress and celebrity photographer (b. Oct. 13, 1910, Longview, Texas—d. March 20, 2000, Beverly Hills, Calif.), was an actress in films of the 1930s and '40s and later became a prominent socialite and a noted photographer of Hollywood's glamour set. She started in show business as a chorus girl, appearing in Florenz Ziegfeld's Broadway musical Whoopee in 1930 and Ziegfeld's last Follies (1931). A screen

Bahr Al-jabal

2005-03-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Bahr el-Jebel , English Mountain Nile that section of the Nile River between Nimule near the Uganda border and Malakal in south-central Sudan. Below Nimule the river flows northward over the Fula Rapids, past Juba (the head of navigation), and through as-Sudd, an enormous, papyrus-choked swamp where half its water is lost. It receives the Bahr al-Ghazal at Lake No and then turns east to join with the Sobat River of

Chan Painting

2005-03-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Ch'an school of Chinese painting inspired by the “meditative” school of Buddhism called, in Chinese, Chan (Japanese: Zen). Although Chan originated in China with an Indian monk, Bodhidharma, it came to be the most Chinese of Buddhist schools. The ideals of the school later frequently found expression in a special kind of art, typically composed

Arminianism

2005-03-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

The movement was named for Jacobus Arminius (q.v.), a Dutch Reformed theologian of the University of Leiden (1603–09), who became involved in a highly publicized

Mufti, Sa'id Al-

2005-03-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

In 1924 al-Mufti entered local government service in Amman, where he vigorously opposed British rule. He joined the governing cabinet of Transjordan (later Jordan) as minister of communications

Aschelminth, General form and external features

2005-03-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

The great majority of nematodes have slender, elongated cylindrical bodies, without obvious external appendages, that move in graceful curves. The external cuticle that covers the whole body is often transparent and may be smooth, but it usually has closely spaced grooves, which at high magnification can be seen encircling the body (annulation) and which give the

Ashurnasirpal Ii

2005-03-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

King of Assyria 883–859 BC, whose major accomplishment was the consolidation of the conquests of his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, leading to the establishment of the New Assyrian Empire. Although, by his own testimony, he was a brilliant general and administrator, he is perhaps best known for the brutal frankness with which he described the atrocities committed on

Middlesex

2005-03-19T06:40:00.000-08:00

The River Thames was the key to the history of Middlesex. From about 8000 BCE traders and settlers used the Thames as their waterway. During the Iron Age

Ancona

2005-03-18T14:51:00.001-08:00

Capital of Ancona provincia and of Marche regione, in central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea on the farthest branch of the promontory that descends from the Conero massif. Founded by Syracusan colonists in about 390 BC, it was taken by Rome in the 2nd century BC and became a flourishing port, particularly favoured by the Roman emperor Trajan, who enlarged the harbour. Attacked by

Acarnania

2005-03-18T14:51:00.000-08:00

District of ancient Greece bounded by the Ionian Sea, the Ambracian Gulf, Mount Thyamus, and the Achelous River. Corinth founded several colonies on the coast of Acarnania in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Originally a tribal unit, Acarnania developed into a federal state with generals and other magistrates, a council, and an assembly by the late 5th century; its capital was

Spotlight: Latin America's New Transportation Links

2005-03-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

By 1998 the common market concept within Latin America, as exemplified by Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia joining as associate members), several bilateral trade agreements, and the rejuvenation of the Andean Community and the Central American Common Market, was contributing to a diminution of old geopolitical rivalries in

Akutagawa Prize

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

The Akutagawa Prize was created in 1935 by the

Antacid

2005-03-16T02:45:00.000-08:00

Numerous nonprescription liquid antacids reduce the gastric acidity of indigestion

X Ray

2005-03-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

The particle nature of X rays is graphically demonstrated in the photoelectric effect and the Compton effect. In an attempt to explain blackbody radiation (radiation from a theoretically perfectly nonreflecting, or completely absorbing [i.e., “black”], body), Max Planck postulated that energy is radiated in small packets, or quanta, with an energy given by hn, in which n is

Ushpizin

2005-03-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

(Aramaic: “visitors”), according to the Jewish Kabbalistic book the Sefer ha-zohar (“Book of Splendour”), seven ancient worthies who take turns visiting the homes of all pious Jews to share their dinner on the festival of Sukkoth. A custom developed of reciting a fixed formula of invitation to the seven: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David. Poor scholars are sometimes

Hippocratic Oath

2005-03-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

Ethical code attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, adopted as a guide to conduct by the medical profession throughout the ages and still used in the graduation ceremonies of many medical schools. Although little is known of the life of Hippocrates—or, indeed, if he was the only practitioner of the time using this name—a body of manuscripts, called

Gabon, Finance and trade

2005-03-13T18:29:00.000-08:00

Membership in the Franc Zone gives Gabon considerable stability. The CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) franc is automatically convertible to French francs, giving trading partners confidence in Gabonese currency. The government has also encouraged foreign investors with its policy of economic liberalism, although there is governmental direction and

Harun Ar-rashid

2005-03-13T16:05:00.000-08:00

The fabulous descriptions of Harun and his court in The Thousand and One Nights are idealized and romanticized, yet they had a considerable basis in fact. Untold wealth had flowed into the new capital of Baghdad since its foundation in 762. The leading men, and still more their wives, vied in conspicuous consumption, and in Harun's reign this reached levels unknown before. His

Pacino, Al

2005-03-13T01:30:00.000-08:00

After growing up in East Harlem and the Bronx, Pacino moved at age 19 to Greenwich Village, where he studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio and appeared in many Off-Broadway and out-of-town productions, including Hello, Out There (1963) and Why Is a Crooked Letter (1966). He took further

Strand, Mark

2005-03-12T15:41:00.000-08:00

Educated at Antioch College (B.A., 1957), Yale University (B.F.A., 1959), and the University of Iowa (M.A., 1962), Strand later taught at several American universities, including Brandeis, Princeton,

Kusf And College Radio

2005-03-12T14:25:00.000-08:00

College radio stations—once considered little more than laboratories for students who had chosen broadcasting as an avocation—came to play an important gatekeeping role in the development of rock music beginning in the 1970s, in the aftermath of free-form FM rock radio and on the eve of the punk revolution. With a bent toward alternative rock, college stations gave

Epistemology, Skepticism

2005-03-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

Many philosophers past and present and many nonphilosophers who are studying philosophy for the first time have been struck by the seemingly indecisive nature of philosophical argumentation. For every argument, there seems to be a counterargument; and for every position, a counterposition. To a considerable extent skepticism is born of such reflection. Some

Manasses, Constantine

2005-03-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Byzantine chronicler, metropolitan of Naupactus, and the author of a verse chronicle (Synopsis historike; “Historical Synopsis”) from the Creation to 1081. Written at the request of Emperor Manuel I's sister-in-law, Irene, the poem is in the so-called political (i.e., 15-syllable) metre. His romance on Aristander and Calithea, also in “political” verse, survives in fragments only. He wrote

Gaines, William Maxwell

2005-03-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

Gaines served in the U.S. Army during World War II, which interrupted his studies at New York University (B.S., 1948). He inherited EC (Educational Comics)

Game Theory

2005-03-10T19:25:00.000-08:00

Branch of applied mathematics fashioned to analyze certain situations in which there is an interplay between parties that may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests. In a typical game, decision-making “players,” who each have their own goals, try to outsmart one another by anticipating each other's decisions; the game is finally resolved as a consequence of the players'

Syv Systre

2005-03-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

Also called Knivsflåfoss, waterfalls in the fylke (county) of Møre og Romsdal, west-central Norway. The falls have their sources in Geit Mountain. The water flows over a high perpendicular cliff and plunges several hundred feet into Geiranger Fjord below. The name, which in English means “seven sisters,” is derived from the seven separate streams that join at the top of the falls. East of the falls,

Stone, Fred (andrew)

2005-03-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Stone was raised in Topeka, Kan., making his stage debut there at age 11, and soon joined his brother on tour with a number of small circuses. In the 1890s he teamed up with Dave Montgomery and together they toured in vaudeville and minstrel shows before appearing in their first Broadway

Jackson, Shoeless Joe

2005-03-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

Born into extreme poverty, Jackson began work in a cotton mill when he was barely six and never went to school. He survived a sickly childhood

Takeda Shingen

2005-03-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

Original name Takeda Harunobu one of the most famous of the military leaders who struggled for mastery of the strategic Kanto Plain in central Japan during the chaotic period of civil unrest in the 16th century. Takeda is especially well known for his series of battles with the noted warrior Uesugi Kenshin, not only famous in the annals of Japanese

Dai Hyakkajiten

2005-03-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

It was first published from 1931 to 1935 in 28 volumes, with four supplements published in 1939–52, and was reissued in 15 volumes (1951–53). In 1955–63, a successor encyclopaedia, the Sekai dai hyakkajiten (“World Encyclopaedia”), was published in 33 volumes containing approximately 70,000 articles signed by specialists;

Race

2005-03-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

Although they are easily and often confused, race and racism must be distinguished from ethnicity and ethnocentrism. While extreme ethnocentrism may take the same offensive form and may have the same dire consequences as extreme racism, there are significant differences between the two concepts. Ethnicity, which relates to culturally contingent features,

Leafbird

2005-03-07T02:07:00.000-08:00

Leafbirds are about 17 to 20 cm (6.5 to 8 inches) long. They live high up in the jungle canopy, feeding mainly on nectar, plus some insects and berries.

Alaska, Explorations

2005-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

As early as 1700, native peoples of Siberia reported the existence of a huge piece of land lying due east. An expedition appointed by the Russian tsar and led by a Danish mariner, Vitus Bering, in 1728 determined that the new land was not linked to the Russian mainland, but because of fog it failed to locate North America. On Bering's second voyage, in 1741, the peak of Mount St. Elias was sighted,

Mirambo

2005-03-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

Nyamwezi warlord of central Africa whose ability to unite the many hitherto separate Nyamwezi clans into a powerful kingdom by the 1870s gave him strategic control of Arab trade routes and threatened the preeminence of the Arabs' colony in Unyanyembe (near present Tabora, Tanzania). His capital, Urambo (now in Tanzania), became a major rival trading

Muhammadiyah

2005-03-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Socioreligious organization in Indonesia, established in 1912 at Jogjakarta, aimed at adapting Islam to modern Indonesian life. The organization was chiefly inspired by an Egyptian reform movement, led by Muhammad 'Abduh, that had tried to bring the Muslim faith into harmony with modern rational thought. The Muhammadiyah advocated the abolition of all superstitious

Yunnankweichow Plateau

2005-03-04T19:38:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Yün-nan–kuei-chou Kao-yüan , Pinyin Yunnan–guizhou Gaoyuan , also called Kweichow Plateau , or Yunkwei Plateau highland region comprising the northern part of Yunnan province and the western part of Kweichow province, China. Yunnan is more distinctly a plateau with areas of rolling uplands, precipitous folded and fault-block mountain ranges, and deep, river-cut gorges. About 6,000 feet (2,000 m) in elevation, the Yunnan part has mountain peaks of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m) in the west. In the Kweichow

Digestive System Disease, Hookworms

2005-03-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hookworm, or Ancylostoma duodenale, infection begins when the worm is in the larval stage. It penetrates the skin, usually of the feet, migrates during its life cycle through the liver and the lungs, and attaches to the mucosa of the small intestine where it matures. Hookworms deplete the body of nutrients, and a major effect is severe chronic iron-deficiency

China, Population

2005-03-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Ming China's northward orientation in foreign relations was accompanied by a flow of Chinese migrants from the crowded South back into the vast North China Plain, and by a concomitant shift in emphasis from an urban and commercial way of life back to a rural and agrarian pattern. Thus, demographic and economic trends that had characterized China for centuries—the

Frederick Augustus I

2005-03-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

The BJP traces its roots to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS; Indian People's Association), which was established in 1951 as the political wing of the Hindu paramilitary group Rashtriya Swayamesevak Sangh (RSS; National Volunteers Corps) by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The BJS advocated the rebuilding of India in accordance

Rhyme Royal

2005-03-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

Rhyme also spelled rime seven-line iambic pentameter stanza rhyming ababbcc. The rhyme royal was first used in English verse in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer in Troilus and Criseyde and The Parlement of Foules. Traditionally, the name rhyme royal is said to derive from The Kingis Quair (“The King's Book), attributed to James I of Scotland (1394–1437), but some critics trace the name to the French chant

Levator Muscle

2005-03-02T05:14:00.000-08:00

Any of the muscles that raise a body part. In humans these include the levator anguli oris, which raises the corner of the mouth; the levator ani, collective name for a thin sheet of muscle that stretches across the pelvic cavity and helps hold the pelvic viscera in position, forming a kind of sphincter around the vagina in the female and the anal canal in both sexes; the

Calatrava, Order Of

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

In full Military Order of Calatrava, Spanish Orden Militar de Calatrava, major military and religious order in Spain. The order was originated in 1158 when King Sancho III of Castile ceded the fortress of Calatrava to Raymond, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero, with instructions to defend it against the Moors. The order of knights and monks who defended the fort was formally recognized by the pope in 1164, and it became closely affiliated

Usulután

2005-03-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern El Salvador. It lies on the Pacific coastal plain at the southern foot of Usulután Volcano. The city's name, which is Indian, means “city of the ocelots.” Usulután is a commercial centre dealing in the grain, coffee, sugarcane, fruit, and hardwood lumber produced in the adjacent hinterland. The city has only small industrial developments. Pop. (1985 est.) 32,172.

Eclipsing Variable Star

2005-02-28T18:25:00.000-08:00

Pair of stars revolving about their common centre of mass in an orbit whose plane passes through or very near the Earth. An observer on the Earth thus sees one member of the binary pass periodically over the face of the other and diminish its light through an eclipse. The star Algol was the first recognized as an eclipsing binary, by John Goodricke, in 1782. Several thousand

Levi Ben Gershom

2005-02-28T02:18:00.000-08:00

In 1321 Levi wrote his first work, Sefer ha-mispar (“Book of the Number”), dealing with arithmetical operations, including extraction of roots. In De sinibus, chordis et arcubus (1342; “On Sines, Chords, and Arcs”) he presented an original derivation of the sine theorem for plane triangles

Arzawa

2005-02-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Ancient kingdom of western or southwestern Anatolia (its exact location is disputed). Although Arzawa was for long periods a rival of the Hittite kingdom, it was occasionally conquered and made a vassal by some of the more powerful Hittite kings, such as Labarnas I (c. 1680–c. 1650 BC). During the period of Hittite decline after the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 1500 BC), Arzawa's power and prominence

Alabama State University

2005-02-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. It is a historically black school, and its enrollment is predominantly African American. Alabama State offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in the schools of Music and Graduate Studies and colleges of Business Administration, Education, and Arts and Sciences. An educational

Paglia, Camille

2005-02-26T00:56:00.000-08:00

The controversial academic, aesthete, and self-described feminist Camille Paglia enunciated her unorthodox views on sexuality and the development of culture and art in Western civilization in two books, Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990) and Sex, Art, and American Culture: Essays (1992). Her public persona and iconoclastic views enraged

Ilesha

2005-02-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo, and Akure. The town is one of the oldest settlements in Yorubaland—according to tradition, it was founded by an owa (“king”) who was one of the 16 sons of the deity Oduduwa. Ilesha was an important military centre in the campaigns against Ibadan, 60 miles (97 km) west-southwest,

Ibuprofen

2005-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used in the treatment of minor pain, fever, and inflammation. Like aspirin, ibuprofen works by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins, body chemicals that sensitize nerve endings. The drug may irritate the gastrointestinal tract. Marketed under trade names such as Advil and Nuprin, ibuprofen is not recommended for use

Iasion

2005-02-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Iasios, in Greek mythology, Cretan youth loved by Demeter, the corn goddess, who lay with him in a fallow field that had been thrice plowed. Their son was Plutus (q.v.), the wealth within the soil. According to another version, Iasion attempted to ravish the goddess and was struck by lightning hurled by Zeus. Iasion perhaps originated as an ancient agricultural deity associated

Meletius Of Antioch, Saint

2005-02-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

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

Gamut

2005-02-23T03:33:00.000-08:00

In music, the full range of pitches in a musical system; also, the compass of a particular instrument or voice. The word originated with the medieval monk Guido of Arezzo (d. 1050) to identify his system of solmization, i.e., of using syllables to denote musical tones in a scale. Thus, to render in syllables the six tones of the hexatonic scale that prevailed, Guido started with the

Absolutism

2005-02-23T02:37:00.000-08:00

The political doctrine and practice of unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty, as vested especially in a monarch. The essence of such a system is that the ruling power is not subject to regularized challenge or check by any other agency, be it judicial, legislative, religious, economic, or electoral. Louis XIV, who ruled France during the late 17th

Biblical Literature, The Thomas Matthew version

2005-02-23T00:45:00.000-08:00

In the same year that Coverdale's authorized version appeared, another English Bible was issued under royal license and with the encouragement of ecclesiastical and political power. It appeared (Antwerp?) under the name of Thomas Matthew, but it is certainly the work of John Rogers, a close friend of Tyndale. Although the version claimed to be “truly and purely translated

Anne Boleyn

2005-02-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Anne's father was Sir Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde.

Cola Dynasty

2005-02-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

The legendary king Karikalan was the common ancestor through whom small Deccan and Andhra families called Cola or Coda claimed a connection with the Uraiyur

Gamut

2005-02-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Shaft Graves

2005-02-20T19:43:00.000-08:00

Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1450 BC) burial sites from the era in which the Greek mainland came under the cultural influence of Crete. The graves were those of royal or leading Greek families, unplundered and undisturbed until found by modern archaeologists at Mycenae. The graves, consisting of deep, rectangular shafts above stone-walled burial chambers, lie in two circles, one excavated

Ear Disease

2005-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

The child born deaf or with a severe hearing impairment cannot acquire speech by the normal process but must attend special classes or a school for the deaf to be taught speech and lipreading. Most of these children have remnants of the sense of hearing that can be utilized in their schooling by the use of aids to amplify sound. The child with a moderate or mild hearing

Factor

2005-02-19T04:43:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, a number or algebraic expression that divides another number or expression evenly, i.e., with no remainder. For example, 3 and 6 are factors of 12 because 12 ¸ 3 = 4 exactly and 12 ¸ 6 = 2 exactly. The other factors of 12 are 1, 2, 4, and 12. With the exception of 1, a positive integer or an algebraic expression that has only two factors (i.e., itself and 1) is termed prime; a positive integer or an algebraic

Van Peebles, Melvin

2005-02-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A., 1953), Van Peebles traveled extensively

Great Appalachian Valley

2005-02-18T01:58:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Valley Region, longitudinal chain of valley lowlands of the Appalachian mountain system of North America. Extending from Canada on the northeast to Alabama, U.S., on the southwest, it includes the St. Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Kittatinny, Cumberland, Shenandoah, and Tennessee river valleys in the United States. In its southerly region the Great Appalachian Valley divides

Shah Rokh

2005-02-18T00:54:00.000-08:00

Shah Rokh was the fourth son of Timur (Tamerlane), founder of the Timurid dynasty. At Timur's death in 1405, a struggle for control of his empire broke out among members of his family. Shah Rokh gained control of most of the empire,

Permafrost

2005-02-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

Many distinctive surface manifestations of permafrost exist in the Arctic and subarctic, including such geomorphic features as polygonal ground, thermokarst phenomena, and pingos. In addition to the above, there are many features caused in large part by frost action that are common in but not restricted to permafrost areas, such as solifluction (soil flowage)

Mountain, Mid-ocean ridges and rises

2005-02-16T18:28:00.000-08:00

Where two lithospheric plates diverge, new material is intruded into the gap between the plates and accreted to each of them as they diverge. The vast majority of volcanic rocks ejected onto the surface of the Earth is erupted at the mid-ocean ridges and rises where this process occurs. Thus, such submarine landforms comprise very long, narrow volcanic centres. Although

Hughes Medical Institute

2005-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

In full Howard Hughes Medical Institute, American philanthropic foundation, established in 1953 by the aviator and industrialist Howard Hughes. From its offices in Bethesda, Md., the organization subsidizes biomedical research at hospitals and universities throughout the United States, chiefly in genetics, immunology, cell biology, structural biology, and the neurosciences. It also provides educational

Arnold Arboretum Of Harvard University

2005-02-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

Major botanical research centre famous for its collection of ornamental trees and shrubs from Asia. Founded in 1872, the arboretum consists of 265 acres (107 hectares) at Jamaica Plain in Boston, and it has another 106-acre (43-hectare) installation at Weston, Massachusetts, U.S. The Arnold Arboretum has acquired and cultivated more than 6,000 types of woody plants during its history; by the

Islamic World, The emergent Islamic civilization

2005-02-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

During the caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (ruled 685–705), which followed the end of the second fitnah, and under his successors during the next four decades, the problematic consequences of the conquests became much more visible. Like their Byzantine and late Sasanian predecessors, the Marwanid caliphs nominally ruled the various religious communities but allowed the

Lima

2005-02-14T23:57:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1831) of Allen county, northwestern Ohio, U.S. The city is situated on the Ottawa River, 88 miles (142 km) northwest of Columbus. Laid out in 1831, its name (from Lima, Peru) was chosen by lot by being drawn from a hat. Oil was discovered nearby in 1885, and by the turn of the century Lima was the centre of oil fields, which are now, for the most part, exhausted; the city remains, however, an important

Quincy

2005-02-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

City, Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on Boston Harbor, just southeast of Boston. In 1625 the site, which was settled by Captain Wollaston, was given the name Mount Wollaston, and a short time afterward, under the leadership of Thomas Morton, it was renamed Merry Mount; in 1627 Morton, an anti-Puritan, was exiled for celebrating May Day. Set off from Braintree and incorporated

Cantus Firmus

2005-02-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

Plural Cantus Firmi, preexistent melody, such as a plainchant excerpt, underlying a polyphonic musical composition (one consisting of several independent voices or parts). The 11th- and 12th-century organum added a simple second melody (duplum) to an existing plainchant melody (the vox principalis, or principal voice), which by the end of the 12th century was stretched so as to accommodate a melody.

Steel, Variations

2005-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

In order to lower power consumption, scrap can be preheated in both batch and continuous processes, often utilizing the heat of furnace off-gases. Scrap preheating to 500° C (930° F) cuts power consumption by 40 to 50 kilowatt-hours per ton, and decreases tap-to-tap time and electrode consumption. Sometimes scrap is preheated inside the EAF by oxyfuel burners, but this requires a large

Arabia

2005-02-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

Introductions to the area include Sheila A. Scoville (ed.), Gazetteer of Arabia: A Geographical and Tribal History of the Arabian Peninsula, vol. 1 (1979); Robert W. Stookey (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Zone of Ferment (1984); Hassan S. Haddad and Basheer K. Nijim (eds.), The Arab World: A Handbook (1978); Alois Musil, Northern Negd (1928, reprinted 1978), on the Najd region of Saudi Arabia; and Derek Hopwood (ed.), The Arabian Peninsula: Society and Politics (1972). See also M.W. Dempsey (comp.), Atlas of the Arab World (1983). Early explorations are chronicled in Robin Bidwell, Travellers in Arabia (1976); and Zahra Freeth and H.V.F. Winstone, Explorers of Arabia: From Renaissance to the End of the Victorian Era (1978). The people of the peninsula are described in Peter Mansfield, The New Arabians (1981); H.R.P. Dickson, The Arab of the Desert, 3rd ed. rev. and abridged by Robert Wilson and Zahra Freeth (1983); Max Freiherr von Oppenheim, Die Beduinen, 2 vol. (1939, reprinted 1983); and Walter Dostal, Die Beduinen in Südarabien (1967). Religious life and history are detailed in Gonzague Ryckmans, Les Religions arabes préislamiques, 2nd ed. (1951); J. Spencer Trimingham, Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times (1979); and A.J. Arberry (ed.), Religion in the Middle East, vol. 2, Islam (1969, reprinted 1976). Articles on the geography, history, and religion of the Arabian Peninsula may be found in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 4 vol. and a suppl. (1913–36), with a new edition in progress, beginning in 1960; and The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (1953, reprinted 1974), with articles taken from the larger work. Periodicals include Arabian Studies (annual); The Middle East and North Africa (annual); The Middle East Journal (quarterly); and Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies (annual).

Sarcoidosis

2005-02-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

Systemic disease of unknown cause that is characterized by the formation of granulation (scarlike) tissue. Sarcoidosis often disappears spontaneously within two or three years but may progress to involve more than one organ. It is observed in the lungs, lymph nodes, eyes, salivary glands, muscles, liver, spleen, and the connective tissues of the nervous system. Skin

Industrial Glass

2005-02-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

Solid material that is normally lustrous and transparent in appearance and that shows great durability under exposure to the natural elements. These three properties—lustre, transparency, and durability—make glass a favoured material for such household objects as windowpanes, bottles, and lightbulbs. However, neither any of these properties alone nor all of

Auslander, Joseph

2005-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Auslander's

Arreola, Juan José

2005-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Mexican short-fiction writer and humorist who was a master of brief subgenres, such as the short story, the epigram, and the sketch. He published only one novel, La feria (1963; The Fair). His collection of stories Confabulario (1952) has been reprinted in several expanded editions and was translated into English as Confabulario

Augustine, Saint, Sermons

2005-02-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

Almost one-third of Augustine's surviving works consists of sermons—more than 1.5 million words, most of them taken down by shorthand scribes as he spoke extemporaneously. They cover a wide range. Many are simple expositions of scripture read aloud at a particular service according to church rules, but Augustine followed certain programs as well. There are sermons

Meliaceae

2005-02-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

The mahogany family of flowering plants, of the order Sapindales, comprising 51 genera and about 575 species of trees and (rarely) shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical regions. Most members of the family have large compound leaves, with the leaflets arranged in the form of a feather, and branched flower clusters. The fruit is fleshy and coloured or a leathery capsule.

North Africa, History Of, Morocco under sharifian dynasties

2005-02-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

As a reaction to the Portuguese presence in Agadir, the tribes in southern Morocco were organized by the sharifian Sa'di family—with the active support of Sufi leaders—into a militant religious movement directed against both the Portuguese presence and Morocco's own rulers, the Wattasids. The latter was a branch of the Marinid dynasty that had usurped power in Fez in 1472 and

Monarchianism

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

A Christian heresy that developed during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It opposed the doctrine of an independent, personal subsistence of the Logos, affirmed the sole deity of God the Father, and thus represented the extreme monotheistic view. Though it regarded Christ as Redeemer, it clung to the numerical unity of the Deity. Two types of Monarchianism developed: the Dynamic

Shamanism

2005-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:00

The term shamanism comes from the

Hunter, David

2005-02-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hunter graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1822 and served in the Mexican War (1846–48). In 1862, while in command of Federal troops along the South Atlantic coast, he proclaimed the

Narbonne

2005-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

Narbonne was the site of Narbo Martius (Narbo), the first colony founded by the Romans in Gaul (118 BC), from which the town derived its name. Then on the Mediterranean, it became a flourishing port. In 413 it was seized by

Gambino, Carlo

2005-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Born in Sicily, Gambino immigrated to the United States in 1921 as a ship stowaway, settling in Brooklyn and becoming a gang member under, successively,

Rachel, Mademoiselle

2005-02-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Mlle Rachel sang on the streets of Lyon and Paris, where her acting ability was quickly discovered by Isidore Samson, who taught her the acting techniques that he had learned from François-Joseph Talma. Mlle Rachel studied

Bioelectricity

2005-02-06T22:44:00.000-08:00

Bioelectric effects were known in ancient times from

Belafonte, Harry

2005-02-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Belafonte's parents were emigrants from the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Jamaica, and he lived with his mother during her 1935–40 return to Jamaica. He left high school to serve in the U.S. Navy in the mid-1940s; after returning to New York City he studied

NaturalRoot

Puerto Princesa

Abraham Bar Hiyya

Blood River, Battle Of

Kodiak Bear

Typography

Ribeirão Prêto

Biblical Literature, Anglo-Saxon versions

Dolores River

Forchheimer, Philipp

Zahn, Ernst

Kidston, Robert

Howard, Jean

Bahr Al-jabal

Chan Painting

Arminianism

Mufti, Sa'id Al-

Aschelminth, General form and external features

Ashurnasirpal Ii

Middlesex

Ancona

Acarnania

Spotlight: Latin America's New Transportation Links

Akutagawa Prize

Antacid

X Ray

Ushpizin

Hippocratic Oath

Gabon, Finance and trade

Harun Ar-rashid

Pacino, Al

Strand, Mark

Kusf And College Radio

Epistemology, Skepticism

Manasses, Constantine

Gaines, William Maxwell

Game Theory

Syv Systre

Stone, Fred (andrew)

Jackson, Shoeless Joe

Takeda Shingen

Dai Hyakkajiten

Race

Leafbird

Alaska, Explorations

Mirambo

Muhammadiyah

Yunnankweichow Plateau

Digestive System Disease, Hookworms

China, Population

Frederick Augustus I

Rhyme Royal

Levator Muscle

Calatrava, Order Of

Usulután

Eclipsing Variable Star

Levi Ben Gershom

Arzawa

Alabama State University

Paglia, Camille

Ilesha

Ibuprofen

Iasion

Meletius Of Antioch, Saint

Gamut

Absolutism

Biblical Literature, The Thomas Matthew version

Anne Boleyn

Cola Dynasty

Gamut

Shaft Graves

Ear Disease

Factor

Van Peebles, Melvin

Great Appalachian Valley

Shah Rokh

Permafrost

Mountain, Mid-ocean ridges and rises

Hughes Medical Institute

Arnold Arboretum Of Harvard University

Yunnankweichow Plateau