WhiteStore

Levee

2005-04-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Any low ridge or earthen embankment built along the edges of a stream or river channel to prevent flooding of the adjacent land. Artificial levees are typically needed to control the flow of rivers meandering through broad, flat floodplains. Levees are usually embankments of dirt built wide enough so that they will not collapse or be eroded when saturated with

France, History Of, The development of central government

2005-04-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Louis's inner council was on the model of the royal council in Richelieu's days, a High Council (Conseil d'en Haut) consisting of only three or four members and excluding the king's own relatives. Members of this council were known as ministers, but they held no formal right to the title and ceased to be minister if the king chose not to summon them. The first of these great

Crocus

2005-04-02T11:36:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 75 low-growing, cormose species of plants of the iris family (Iridaceae), native to the Alps, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean area and widely grown for their cuplike blooms in early spring or fall. The spring-flowering sorts have a floral tube so long that the ovary is belowground, sheltered from climatic changes. The flowers close at night and

Art Rock

2005-04-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Eclectic branch of rock music that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished in the early to mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used synonymously with progressive rock, but the latter is best used to describe “intellectual” album-oriented rock by such British bands as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Yes. The term art rock is best used to describe either classically influenced

Ninhursag

2005-04-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Ninhursaga , (Sumerian) Akkadian Belit-ili in Mesopotamian religion, city goddess of Adab and of Kish in the northern herding regions; she was the goddess of the stony, rocky ground, the hursag. In particular, she had the power in the foothills and desert to produce wildlife. Especially prominent among her offspring were the onagers (wild asses) of the western desert. As the sorrowing mother animal she appears

Hoorne, Filips Van Montmorency, Graaf Van

2005-03-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

A gentleman-in-waiting at the court of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V,

Chen Shizeng

2005-03-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

Chen came from a family of prominent officials and scholars. He was well educated and something of a child prodigy who, by age 10, was painting, writing poetry, and excelling at calligraphy. In 1902 Chen went to Japan for further study.

Epistemology, Analytic versus synthetic propositions

2005-03-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

A proposition is often said to be analytic if the meaning of the predicate term is contained in the meaning of the subject term. Thus, “All husbands are married” is analytic because the term “husband” includes as part of its meaning “being married.” A term is said to be synthetic if this is not so. Therefore, “All Model-T Fords are black” is synthetic since the term “black” is not included

Epistemology, Description versus justification

2005-03-28T23:50:00.000-08:00

Epistemology during its long history has engaged in two different sorts of tasks. One of these is descriptive in character. It aims to depict accurately certain features of the world, including the contents of the human mind, and to determine whether these should count as specimens of knowledge. A philosophical system with this orientation is, for example, the phenomenology

Hanalei

2005-03-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

Village, Kauai county, on the north central coast of Kauai Island, Hawaii, U.S. Near the head of Hanalei (“crescent”) Bay, the village is in the scenic and fertile Hanalei or Hanohano (“majestic”) Valley (3,439 ft [1,048 m] deep), one of the state's few rice-producing regions. While some cattle are raised, the villagers are primarily paddy, taro, and vegetable farmers. Missionaries arrived at the

Ammonia-soda Process

2005-03-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

In the ammonia-soda process, common salt, sodium chloride, is treated with ammonia and then

Argentina, Alfonsín's administration

2005-03-26T01:51:00.000-08:00

Soon after his inauguration in December 1983, Alfonsín reversed legislation passed under Bignone by announcing plans to prosecute several members of the defunct military government, including former presidents Videla, Viola, and Galtieri. He also repealed a law granting amnesty to those accused of crimes and human rights violations during the Dirty War, and hundreds

Caucasian Languages, Linguistic characteristics

2005-03-24T01:44:00.000-08:00

Correspondences between sounds and meanings in words and word elements provide a basis for considering the Kartvelian languages as being closely related and descended from a common ancestral language (a protolanguage).

Aesthetics, Expressionism

2005-03-23T03:31:00.000-08:00

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,

Hyssop

2005-03-21T15:49:00.000-08:00

(Hyssopus officinalis), garden herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae, or Labiatae) whose flowers and evergreen leaves have long been used as a flavouring for foods and beverages and as a folk medicine. The plant has a sweet scent and a warm, bitter taste. A strong tea made of the leaves and sweetened with honey is a traditional remedy for nose, throat, and

Shirk

2005-03-21T00:59:00.000-08:00

The Qur'an (Islamic scripture) stresses in many verses that God does not share his powers with any partner (sharik). It warns those who believe their idols will intercede for them that they, together with the idols, will become fuel for hellfire on the Day of Judgment

Ear Disease, Skull fracture and concussion

2005-03-20T01:57:00.000-08:00

Skull fracture and concussion from a severe blow on the head can impair the functioning of the auditory and vestibular nerves in varying degrees. The greatest hearing loss arises when a fracture of the skull passes through the labyrinth of the inner ear, totally destroying its function.

Sardinia

2005-03-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Piedmont-sardinia, or Sardinia-piedmont, kingdom of the house of Savoy from 1720, which was centred on the lands of Piedmont (in northwestern Italy) and Sardinia. In 1718, by the Treaty of London among the great powers, Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign of Piedmont, was forced to yield Sicily to the Austrian Habsburgs and in exchange received Sardinia (until then a Spanish possession). Two years later, on Aug. 24, 1720, he

Usulután

2005-03-18T03:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Makar

2005-03-17T02:07:00.000-08:00

Because Geoffrey Chaucer was their acknowledged master and they often employed his verse forms and themes, the

Brunet, Jacques-charles

2005-03-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

The son of a bookseller, Brunet acquired a taste for bibliography at an early age and published a supplement to the Dictionnaire bibliographique de livres rares (1810; “Dictionary of Rare Books”), brought out a few years earlier. The first edition of Brunet's Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Fable

2005-03-16T04:59:00.000-08:00

Fables teach a general principle of conduct by presenting a specific example of behaviour. Thus, to define the moral that “People who rush into things without using judgment run into strange and unexpected dangers,” Aesop—the traditional “father” of the fable form—told the following story:There was a dog who was fond of eating eggs. Mistaking a shell-fish for an egg one

Tragedy

2005-03-15T18:16:00.000-08:00

Although the word tragedy is often used loosely to describe any sort of disaster or misfortune, it more precisely refers to a work of art that probes

Han Yü

2005-03-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

An orphan, Han initially failed his civil service exams because the examiners refused to accept his unconventional prose style, but he eventually entered the bureaucracy

'abd-us-samad, Khwaja

2005-03-13T23:38:00.000-08:00

'Abd-us-Samad was born into a family of good social standing in Iran, and he had already gained a reputation as a calligrapher

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

2005-03-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

German astronomer who established the study of variable stars as an independent branch of astronomy and is renowned for his great catalog listing the positions and magnitudes of 324,188 stars. He studied at the University of Königsberg, Prussia, where he was a pupil and later the successor of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Argelander was appointed

Likud

2005-03-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

In full Likud-Liberalim Leumi , Hebrew Unity-National Liberals right-wing Israeli political party. It was founded in September 1973 to challenge the Israel Labour Party, which had governed the country since its independence in 1948, and first came to power in 1977, with Menachem Begin as prime minister. Thereafter, Likud alternated in government with the Labour Party, forming coalitions with minor parties, especially those with an ultrareligious

Anodizing

2005-03-12T04:31:00.000-08:00

Method of plating metal for such purposes as corrosion resistance, electrical insulation, thermal control, abrasion resistance, sealing, improving paint adhesion, and decorative finishing. Anodizing consists of electrically depositing an oxide film from aqueous solution onto the surface of a metal, often aluminum, which serves as the anode in an electrolytic

Arminianism

2005-03-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

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

Susah

2005-03-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sousse, or Sousa, capital of Susah wilayah (governorate), central east Tunisia. The town, an important port and commercial centre, originated as the Phoenician settlement of Hadrumetum. It declined under Arab control but was revived by the Aghlabid rulers of al-Qayrawan (Kairouan) in the 9th century, whose port it remained until the invasions of the Bedouin Arabs in the 11th century. Reestablished

Europe

2005-03-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

Second smallest of the world's continents (after Australia), composed of the westward-projecting peninsulas of Eurasia and occupying nearly one-fifteenth of the world's total land area. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south (west to east) by the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Kuma-Manych Depression, and the

Wroclaw

2005-03-10T05:59:00.000-08:00

German Breslau, city, capital of Wroclaw województwo (province), southwestern Poland. It lies along the Oder River at its confluence with the Olawa, Sleza, Bystrzyca, and Widawa rivers. A large industrial centre situated in Dolny Slask (Lower Silesia), Wroclaw is the fourth largest city in Poland. It contains Poland's largest flour mills, a modern electronics and data-processing industry, foundries,

Byrd, William, Of Westover

2005-03-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

His birthplace was the James River plantation home of his father, also named William Byrd, an Indian trader and slave importer. The boy went to school in England, travelled in Holland, and studied law in the Middle Temple, London.

Ambrose Of Camaldoli

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

Italian Ambrogio Camaldolese, original name Ambrogio Traversari Humanist, ecclesiastic, and patristic translator who helped effect the brief reunion of the Eastern and Western churches in the 15th century. He entered the Camaldolese Order in 1400 at Florence, where, over a period of 30 years, he mastered Latin and particularly Greek, which enabled him to translate Greek patristic works into

World War I, Mesopotamia, 1914April 1916

2005-03-07T04:09:00.000-08:00

The British occupation of Basra, Turkey's port at the head of the Persian Gulf, in November 1914 had been justifiable strategically because of the need to protect the oil wells of southern Persia and the Abadan refinery. The British advance of 46 miles northward from Basra to al-Qurnah in December and the further advance of 90 miles up the Tigris to al-'Amarah in May–June 1915 ought to

Shilka River

2005-03-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Šilka river, Chita oblast (province), southeastern Russia, formed by the union of the Onon and Ingoda rivers. It flows 348 miles (560 km) northeast to unite with the Argun to form the Amur River on the Russia–China border. The area of its drainage basin is 80,000 square miles (206,000 square km). The river is navigable for its entire length.

Aalto, Alvar

2005-03-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

Turun Sanomat Building, Turku, Fin. (1930); Municipal Library at Viipuri, now Vyborg, Russia (1930–35); Sulfate Paper Mill at Toppila, Fin. (1931); Sanatorium at Paimio, Fin. (1933); cellulose factory at Sunila, Kotka, Fin. (1936–39; extended 1951–54); Villa Mairea (Gullichsen House) near Noormarkku, Fin. (1938–39); sawmill at Varkaus, Fin. (1945); Baker House (student dormitory), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., U.S. (1947–48); town hall group, Säynätsalo, Fin. (1950–52); House of Culture, Helsinki, Fin. (1955–58); house for Louis Carré, Bazoches, France (1956–58); church at Vuoksenniska, Imatra, Fin. (1956–58); Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Ålborg, Den. (1958–72); post and telegraph office, Baghdad, Iraq (1958); Community Centre, Wolfsburg, Ger. (1959–62); Community Centre, Seinäjoki, Fin. (1962; theatre added, 1967); Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Rooms, Institute of International Education, New York City (1964–65); Mount Angel Abbey Library, near Salem, Ore., U.S. (1967–70); Finlandia Hall, Helsinki (1971, enlarged 1974); Taidemuseo, Jyväskylä, Fin. (1973, later called the Alvar Aalto Museum).

Zamora

2005-03-05T00:17:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Ecuador. It lies in the forested jungles east of the main Andean ranges and is situated at the southeastern foot of the Andean Cordillera (mountains) de Zamora, just south of the Zamora River. The Roman Catholic Church has established a Vicar Apostolic in Zamora, which is considered to be a missionary settlement; the population is almost entirely

Juruá River

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

Portuguese Rio Juruá, Spanish Río Yuruá, river that rises in the highlands east of the Ucayali River in Loreto department, Peru. It flows northward through Acre state, Brazil. Entering Amazonas state, Brazil, it meanders eastward and then east-northeastward, emptying into the stretch of the Amazon River known as the Solimões River, near Tamaniquá. The most winding river in the Amazon basin, the Juruá is calculated

Beyla

2005-03-04T00:49:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Guinea, western Africa, in the Guinea Highlands. The town was founded by Dyula traders in the early 13th century as a collecting point for slaves and kola nuts and is now the chief trading centre for rice, cattle, tobacco, coffee, and palm oil and kernels. It is connected by road with Nzérékoré (south) and Kankan (north). Beyla is the site of a hospital and a tobacco

China, The tide begins to shift

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

Although government forces overran Yen-an in March 1947, the strategic initiative passed to the PLA during that year. In midsummer Liu Bocheng started moving toward the Yangtze; by late in the year the Communists had concentrated strong forces in central China. Chen Yi operated on both sides of the Lung-hai, east of K'ai-feng; Liu Bocheng was firmly established in the Ta-pieh

Space Perception, Visual cues

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

Perhaps the most important perceptual cues of distance and depth depend on so-called binocular disparity; that is, since the eyes are imbedded at different points in the skull, they receive slightly different (disparate) images of any given object. The two retinal images of the same object seem to be combined perceptually in the brain into one three-dimensional experience.

Geosyncline

2005-03-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

Linear trough of subsidence of the Earth's crust within which vast amounts of sediment accumulate. The filling of a geosyncline with thousands or tens of thousands of feet of sediment is accompanied in the late stages of deposition by folding, crumpling, and faulting of the deposits. Intrusion of crystalline igneous rock and regional uplift along the axis of the

Managerial Economics

2005-03-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Application of economic principles to decision-making in business firms or of other management units. The basic concepts are derived mainly from microeconomic theory, which studies the behaviour of individual consumers, firms, and industries, but new tools of analysis have been added. Statistical methods, for example, are becoming increasingly important in

Shigellosis

2005-02-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

Infectious disease that is caused by various species of Shigella bacteria and is known as bacillary dysentery. See dysentery.

Stagg, Amos Alonzo

2005-02-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

U.S. college football coach who had the longest coaching career—71 years—in the history of the sport. In 1943, at the age of 81, he was named college coach of the year, and he remained active in coaching until the age of 98. He is the only person selected for the National Football Hall of Fame, New Brunswick, N.J., as both a player and a coach. He was also

Insurance, Underwriting and rate making

2005-02-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

The two basic functions in insurance are underwriting and rating, which are closely related to each other. Underwriting deals with the selection of risks, and rating deals with the pricing system applicable to the risks accepted.

East Australian Current

2005-02-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

Surface oceanic current, a section of the counterclockwise flow in the Tasman Sea, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is formed by water masses from the Coral Sea—equatorial water driven by monsoonal winds from January to March and eastward subtropical flow from April to December—which pass southeast between the Great Barrier and Chesterfield reefs (20° S latitude), paralleling

Graf, Steffi

2005-02-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Graf began playing tennis with the encouragement of her father, who became her coach. At age 13 she became the second youngest player ever to earn an international ranking. In 1987 she won her first grand-slam event, defeating Czech-born American Martina

Mathematics, Foundations Of

2005-02-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

The study of the logical and philosophical basis of mathematics, including whether the axioms of a given system ensure its completeness and its consistency. Because mathematics has served as a model for rational inquiry in the West and is used extensively in the sciences, foundational studies have far-reaching consequences for the reliability and extensibility

Azerbaijan, Flag Of

2005-02-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

Prior to the Russian Revolution, when Azerbaijan was part of the tsar's domain, the leading Azerbaijani nationalist, 'Ali bay Huseynzada, exhorted his followers to “Turkify, Islamicize, Europeanize” in order to emphasize ethnic pride, religious devotion, and modernization. The colours associated with those principles were light blue (a traditional Turkish flag colour),

Hawk Moth

2005-02-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

Also called Sphinx Moth, or Hummingbird Moth (family Sphingidae), any member of cosmopolitan insects (order Lepidoptera), named for their hovering, swift flight patterns. These stout-bodied moths have long, narrow forewings and shorter hindwings, with wingspans ranging from 5 to 20 cm (2 to 8 inches). Many species pollinate flowers such as orchids and petunias while sucking nectar; the proboscis (feeding organ) of some

Arason, Jón

2005-02-22T06:45:00.000-08:00

The son of poor parents, he rose quickly to eminence in the church and was consecrated bishop of Hólar, the northern diocese of Iceland, in 1522. He administered his diocese prosperously until Christian III of Denmark began to impose Lutheranism

Epistemology, Knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description

2005-02-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

The distinction between knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description was introduced by Bertrand Russell in connection with his celebrated theory of descriptions. Here only the epistemological (as distinct from the logical) version of his theory will be considered. It was invented by Russell to lend support to the basic thesis of empiricism that all

Ecuador

2005-02-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Ecuador, Spanish República del Ecuador, country of northwestern South America. It straddles part of the Andes Mountains and occupies part of the Amazon basin. Lying on the Equator, from which its name derives, it borders Colombia to the north, Peru to the east and the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west; it includes the Pacific island group of the Galápagos Islands, or the Archipiélago de Colón. It is a relatively

April Theses

2005-02-20T16:02:00.000-08:00

During the February Revolution two disparate bodies had replaced the imperial government—the Provisional Government and

Feline Leukemia

2005-02-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Feline Lymphosarcoma, viral disease of cats, one of the most serious diseases affecting small domestic animals. Symptoms include enlargement of the lymph nodes, depression, emaciation, and, frequently, diarrhea; there is no known treatment, and the outcome is usually fatal. A fluorescent antibody test developed in the 1970s produced evidence that the virus is present in many apparently healthy

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Jude

2005-02-20T05:57:00.000-08:00

The Letter of Jude, after a salutation that attributes it to Jude, the brother of James, and addresses itself to the church as a whole, develops the theme of the short letter—a polemic against heretics who have abandoned the transmitted traditional faith and who will thus be judged by the Lord. They deny Christ, and punishment similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah in the

Alice Springs

2005-02-19T02:56:00.000-08:00

Town, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the main focus of the Centre, a name given to approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 square km) of central Australia that includes large areas of desert and rocky ridges. Alice Springs lies on the intermittent Todd River and the Stuart Highway, 1,028 road miles (1,654 km) north of Adelaide and 954 miles (1,535 km) south of Darwin. The town originated in 1871 as a station

Performing Arts

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

Literature, France.

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

Many important French intellectuals from the postwar period were honoured in 1993, among them Roland Barthes, Raymond Aron, Jacques Lacan, and Claude Levi-Strauss. The first volume in the Oeuvres complètes of Roland Barthes, who died in 1980, appeared, bringing together all of his works published between 1942 and 1965 as well as a few previously unpublished ones. This volume permitted

Yahya (mahmud Al-mutawakkil)

2005-02-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

When Yahya was a child, Yemen was a province of the Ottoman Empire. His youth was spent in the service of his father's administration, and, when his father died in 1904, Yahya succeeded him as imam. The Yemenis had always resented Turkish rule, and Yahya was soon able to assemble a potent military force. Sporadic warfare lasted until 1911, when he was

China, The rise of Neo-Confucianism

2005-02-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

The rise of the particular school of Neo-Confucianism led by Chu Hsi takes on special meaning in this context. The Neo-Confucian upsurge beginning in the late T'ang embraced many exciting extensions of the Classical vision. Noteworthy during the Pei Sung was the emergence of a new Confucian metaphysics that was influenced by Buddhism and that borrowed freely from

Braddock, James J.

2005-02-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

Braddock's professional name was changed by his manager to James J. early in his career, patterning the name

Furniture, France

2005-02-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

In France the Italian influence of the 16th century was gradually assimilated, and a national style of furniture was evolved that soon spread its influence into neighbouring countries. The reign of Louis XIII, covering most of the first half of the 17th century, was a time of transition. The Gobelins factory was founded by Louis XIV for the production of deluxe furniture

Wolf-rayet Star

2005-02-14T03:30:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of extremely hot, white stars having peculiar spectra thought to indicate either great turbulence within the star or a steady, voluminous ejection of material. A typical Wolf-Rayet star is several times the diameter of the Sun and thousands of times more luminous. Only a few hundred are known, located mostly in the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The

Leng-hu

2005-02-13T23:17:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Lenghu, town, northwestern Tsinghai sheng (province), western China. Leng-hu is situated in the northwestern part of the Tsaidam Basin, to the southwest of Tang-chin Pass, which leads from the Tsaidam into western Kansu province and to the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. Leng-hu is one of the major centres of the oil fields developed in the Tsaidam Basin during the 1960s and

Industrial Glass

2005-02-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

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

Interface

2005-02-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

Surface separating two phases of matter, each of which may be solid, liquid, or gaseous. An interface is not a geometric surface but a thin layer that has properties differing from those of the bulk material on either side of the interface. A common interface is that between a body of water and the air, which exhibits such properties as surface tension, by which the interface

Good Feelings, Era Of

2005-02-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Era Of Good Feeling, the national mood of the United States from 1815 to 1825, as first described by the Boston Columbian Centinel on July 12, 1817. Although the “era” generally is considered coextensive with President James Monroe's two terms (1817–25), it really began in 1815, when for the first time American citizens could afford to pay less attention to European political and military affairs. The predominant attitude

France, History Of, Domestic policy and reform efforts

2005-02-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

As stated above, in the context of 17th-century absolutism, Louis XIV had already initiated many rationalizing reforms. The crown had worked selectively to replace corporatist, traditionalist institutions with meritocratic associations. In 1648, for example, Cardinal Mazarin had already sponsored a Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (because it lent itself better

Tyrannosaur

2005-02-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

Tyrannosaurus rex is the best-known

Asana

2005-02-09T00:19:00.000-08:00

Sanskrit Asana (“sitting posture,” “seat”), in the Yoga system of Indian philosophy, immobile bodily posture that a person assumes in an attempt to isolate the mind by freeing it from attention to bodily functions. It is the third of the eight prescribed stages intended to lead the aspirant to samadhi, the trancelike state of perfect concentration. Once the practitioner is able with ease

Schaumburg-lippe

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

Schaumburg, or Schauenburg, northeast of Rinteln, was the ancestral seat of a line of counts recorded from the early 12th century. Lutheran from 1559, this

World War I, German strategy and the submarine war, 1916January 1917

2005-02-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Both Admiral Scheer and General Falkenhayn doubted whether the German submarines could do any decisive damage to Great Britain so long as their warfare was restricted in deference to the protests of the United States; and, after a tentative reopening of the submarine campaign on Feb. 4, 1916, the German naval authorities in March gave the U-boats permission to sink without

Sullivan, Louis

2005-02-07T09:42:00.000-08:00

In full Louis Henry Sullivan American architect, regarded as the spiritual father of modern American architecture and identified with the aesthetics of early skyscraper design. His more than 100 works in collaboration (1879–95) with Dankmar Adler include the Auditorium Building, Chicago (1887–89); the Guaranty Building, Buffalo, New York (1894–95; now Prudential

Ericales

2005-02-06T23:04:00.000-08:00

The fossil record of Ericales is not enormous, especially considering the number of extant species in the order; in fact, many species placed in Ericales require careful reconsideration as their affinities with the order are doubtful. The Cyrillaceae are well documented in the fossil record with pollen grains occurring as far back as the Maastrichtian of the

Dab

2005-02-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Other species

Alençon

2005-02-05T17:56:00.000-08:00

Town, Orne département, Basse-Normandie région, northwestern France. Alençon lies at the juncture of the Sarthe and Briante rivers, in the centre of a plain ringed by wooded hills. It is known for its tulle and lace (especially point d'Alençon), introduced from Venice in the mid-17th century. Incorporated in the duchy of Normandy in 911, it was capital of the county and duchy of

Xia Gui

2005-02-04T01:35:00.000-08:00

One of the best English-language sources of information on Hsia Kuei is the article on him by Sherman E. Lee in the Encyclopedia of World Art, vol. 7 (1963), col. 650–654. See also Osvald Sirén, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, vol. 2 (1956, reissued 1974), pp. 119–124; and James Cahill, Chinese Painting (1960, reissued 1985), pp. 79–87, which discuss Hsia Kuei in the context of the Ma-Hsia school.

Nguyen Dynasty

2005-02-03T22:28:00.000-08:00

After Mac Dang Dung usurped the Vietnamese throne in 1527, Nguyen Kim fought to restore a Le emperor in 1533, leaving the Mac family in power in the northern section

Hamburg, Climate

2005-02-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Hamburg has mild winters, late springs, relatively cool summers, high humidity, and frequent fog. The mean winter temperature is 34.2° F (1.2° C), and the mean summer temperature is 62.4° F (16.9° C).

Dab

2005-02-03T03:07:00.000-08:00

Rodent native to Eurasia but introduced worldwide through association with humans. Highly adaptive, the house mouse has both behavioral and physiological traits—such as the ability to survive in buildings and aboard ships, a tendency to move into agricultural fields and leave when the habitat changes, and a rapid rate of reproduction—that allow

Kirklareli

2005-02-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern (European) Turkey. It lies in the foothills of the Yildiz (Istranca) Mountains. Formerly called Kirk Kilise (“Forty Churches”), it developed chiefly because of its position on the shortest route over the mountains from the north to Istanbul, 100 miles (160 km) southeast. The city has numerous Ottoman monuments, including the 15th-century Mosque of Hizir Bey. An important

Habima

2005-02-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Habimah (Hebrew: “Stage”), Hebrew theatre company originally organized as Habima ha-'Ivrit (Hebrew: “the Hebrew Stage”) in Bialystok, in Russian Poland, in 1912 by Nahum Zemach. The troupe traveled in 1913 to Vienna, where it staged Osip Dymov's Hear O Israel before the 11th Zionist Congress. In 1917, after World War I caused the ensemble to dissolve, Zemach established the group in Moscow, calling it

Piciform

2005-01-31T19:53:00.000-08:00

Fossil species of the order Piciformes are almost unknown. Many avian fossils identified long ago are in need of verification, including the early fossil “woodpeckers,” some of which are now believed to belong in other orders. Fossil woodpeckers are now known only from the Pliocene Epoch (about 6,000,000 years ago). Except for a single specimen from the middle Miocene of Bavaria

Gulmarg

2005-01-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Resort town situated in the Indian-held sector of Jammu and Kashmir state, in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. Located at an elevation of 8,500 feet (2,600 m), Gulmarg (meaning “meadow of flowers”) displays a breathtaking panoramic view of the whole Vale of Kashmir and of Nanga Parbat, one of the highest peaks (26,660 feet [8,126 m]) of the Himalayas. The valley and mountains may be viewed

Alembert, Jean Le Rond D'

2005-01-29T17:48:00.000-08:00

Meanwhile, d'Alembert began an active social life and frequented well-known salons, where he acquired a considerable reputation as a witty conversationalist and mimic. Like his fellow Philosophes—those thinkers, writers, and scientists who believed in the sovereignty of reason and nature (as opposed to authority and revelation) and rebelled against old dogmas

Fock, Jeno

2005-01-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hungarian politician (b. May 17, 1916, Budapest, Austria-Hungary—d. May 23, 2001, Budapest, Hung.), was a moderate communist who tried to institute economic reforms while serving as Hungarian deputy prime minister (1961–67) and prime minister (1967–75). His efforts were blocked by the Soviet Union, however, and he was pushed out of office in 1975. Fock continued to criticize General Secretary Janos Kadar's hard-line

Sotheby's

2005-01-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

The founder, Samuel Baker (died 1778), a London bookseller, held his first auction (under his own name) early in 1744, selling an estate library of 457 books. Establishing the firm in York Street and handling

Morse, Jedidiah

2005-01-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

While a young man teaching school in New Haven, Morse developed an interest

Póros

2005-01-27T09:11:00.000-08:00

Island of the Saronic group, lying close to the Argolis peninsula of the Peloponnese, part of the nomós (department) of Attikí, Greece. It actually comprises two islands totaling 9 square miles (23 square km), the larger of which is the wooded, limestone island of Kalávria, separated from the village of Galatás on the mainland by a narrow channel, or poros, whence the collective

Tapestry

2005-01-26T05:49:00.000-08:00

Woven decorative fabric, the design of which is built up in the course of weaving. Broadly, the name has been used for almost any heavy material, handwoven, machine woven, or even embroidered, used to cover furniture, walls, or floors or for the decoration of clothing. Since the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the technical definition of tapestry has been narrowed to include

La Motta, Jake

2005-01-26T04:44:00.000-08:00

La Motta grew up in a Bronx slum

Brooks Range

2005-01-25T02:40:00.000-08:00

Northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains in northern Alaska, U.S. It is separated from the Alaska Range (south) and the Mackenzie Mountains (southeast) by the lowlands of the Yukon and Porcupine river systems. It extends about 600 miles (1,000 km) in a west–east direction across Alaska, from the Chukchi Sea to the Yukon (Canadian) border, and reaches widths of 80 miles (128 km). Its peaks

Boulemane

2005-01-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Boulman, town, north-central Morocco. The town, located at an elevation of about 5,500 feet (1,700 m) above sea level in the Middle (Moyen) Atlas mountains, is a market centre serving Berber seminomads and is connected by road with Fès city (northwest) and er-Rachidia town (south). Pop. (1982) 3,295.

Nan-ga

2005-01-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

Also called Bunjin-ga (“Literati Painting”), style of painting practiced by numerous Japanese painters of the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the most original and creative painters of the middle and late Edo period belonged to the Nan-ga school. The style is based on developments of 17th- and 18th-century individualism in the Ch'ing-dynasty painting of China. Nan-ga artists transformed as they borrowed,

Action

2005-01-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

In theoretical physics, an abstract quantity that describes the overall motion of a physical system. Motion, in physics, may be described from at least two points of view: the close-up view and the panoramic view. The close-up view involves an instant-by-instant charting of the behaviour of an object. The panoramic view, on the other hand, reveals not only a complete picture

Nevada, Climate

2005-01-23T22:25:00.000-08:00

The high Sierras along the state's western boundary often cause clouds of Pacific origin to drop their moisture before reaching Nevada, thus producing a semiarid climate. The driest regions are in the southeast and near Carson Sink, where annual rainfall seldom exceeds four inches (100 millimetres). The northeast has as little as eight inches of precipitation, whereas