TrueMarble

Tea Ceremony

2005-04-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

Beijing, Museums and libraries

2005-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Palace Museum, housed in the main buildings of the former Imperial Palaces, contains the city's greatest collection of art treasures. Many of the halls are kept as they were in dynastic times, each constituting a museum in itself, and others are used to display some of the priceless treasures from China's past. Of special interest are its porcelains and enamels, works

Gümüshane

2005-04-03T23:24:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Gümüsane, city, northeastern Turkey. It lies along the Harsit River, at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 m), about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Trabzon. The origin and history of the ancient settlement are obscure. The silver (Turkish: gümüs) mines from which the city's name is derived were mentioned by Marco Polo and the medieval North African traveler Ibn Battutah; they have been worked out since the 19th century.

Tibet, Industry

2005-04-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Before the 1950s Tibet had no modern industries. There were small handicraft centres that were owned either individually or collectively and that produced scroll paintings, metal images, wooden block prints, and religious images. For these crafts, the lag-shes-pa, or craftsmen, had to be well versed in literature and mathematics. There were also carpet weavers, tanners,

Arabian Desert

2005-04-01T05:06:00.000-08:00

Great desert region occupying almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. Covering an area of about 900,000 square miles (2,300,000 square km), it is bordered on the north by the Syrian Desert, on the northeast and east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the southeast and south by the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and on the west by the Red Sea. A large part of the Arabian Desert lies within

Keeler, James (edward)

2005-03-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Interested in astronomy from an early age, Keeler became assistant to the noted astronomer Samuel P. Langley at the Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1881. From 1886 to 1891 he was on the staff of the Lick

Aksum

2005-03-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Despite common belief to the contrary, Aksum did not originate from one of the Semitic Sabaean kingdoms of southern Arabia but instead developed as a local power. At its apogee (3rd–6th century AD), Aksum became the greatest market of northeastern Africa; its merchants traded as far as Alexandria and

Gatchina

2005-03-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1929) Khotchino , or (1929–44) Krasnogvardeysk city, Leningrad oblast (province), northwestern Russia, lying 15 miles (24 km) southwest of St. Petersburg. The first mention of Khotchino dates from 1499, when it was a possession of Novgorod. Later it belonged to Livonia and Sweden. After 1721 it was returned to Russia and in the 1720s belonged to the sister of Peter I the Great, Natalia. The town grew only after the building, between 1766 and 1772, of a summer

Earth, The ionospheric dynamo

2005-03-27T16:29:00.000-08:00

Above the Earth's surface, the next source of magnetic field is the ionospheric dynamo—an electric current system flowing in the planet's ionosphere. Beginning at about 50 kilometres and extending above 1,000 kilometres with a maximum at 400 kilometres, the ionosphere is formed primarily by the action of sunlight on atmospheric particles. There, sunlight strips electrons

Industrial Glass, Annealing

2005-03-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

During the glass-forming process, glasses often develop permanent stresses because various regions of the material pass through the glass transition range at varying cooling rates and at varying times. In order to ensure dimensional stability (for instance, for space-based telescope mirrors) and to avoid the development of excessive tension in critical regions,

Arndt, Ernst Moritz

2005-03-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

Arndt was educated at Stralsund, Greifswald, and Jena and qualified for the Lutheran ministry. At the age of 28 he rejected his clerical career and for 18 months travelled through Europe. On his return to Germany the sight of

Earth, Folding

2005-03-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

Folds along subduction zones

Ayer, Sir A.j.

2005-03-26T06:50:00.000-08:00

Ayer graduated from Eton College and from Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1936). He was exposed to logical positivism in 1932 during a stay in Vienna. He began teaching at the University of Oxford in 1932 and served in

Ghee Hin

2005-03-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

Chinese secret society that flourished in Malaya in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During the 1800s many Chinese migrated to Malaya, bringing their secret societies with them. The Ghee Hin had strong branch organizations in Penang. Its membership consisted primarily of Cantonese speakers from southern China. The Ghee Hin was a semilegal society internally controlled

Duun, Olav

2005-03-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Duun, a former cattle herder and fisherman, entered a teacher's college at age 26. He worked as a teacher in Holmestrand on the Oslo Fjord until 1927, when he retired to devote himself to writing. His many novels analyze the psychological and

Responsa

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

Hebrew She'elot U-teshubot (“questions and answers”), replies made by rabbinic scholars in answer to submitted questions about Jewish law. These replies began to be written in the 6th century after final redaction of the Talmud and are still being formulated. Estimates of the total number of published responsa, which range in length from a few words to lengthy monographs and compendia, vary from

Cumberland, William Augustus, Duke Of

2005-03-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

During the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), he became commander of the allied forces (1745) and was severely defeated by France's Marshal Maurice

Wilberforce University

2005-03-22T01:09:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Wilberforce, Ohio, U.S. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Wilberforce is a liberal arts university offering undergraduate programs in business, engineering, sciences, humanities, and other areas. All students must participate in the cooperative education program, a program

Ubico (castañeda), Jorge

2005-03-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

Ubico received a commission in the Guatemalan army in 1897, distinguished himself in several campaigns, and rose to the rank of colonel. In 1907 he was appointed governor of Alta Verapaz and in 1911 governor of Retalhuleu, where he served with efficiency and honesty. In the following

Nivkh Language

2005-03-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

Formerly called Gilyak Language, isolated language with two main dialects spoken by some 400 Nivkh, roughly 10 percent of the ethnic group. The Nivkh live on Sakhalin Island and along the estuary of the Amur River in eastern Siberia. Nivkh is not known to be related to any other language, and it is usually included with the Luorawetlan languages and the Yeniseian languages in the catchall areal category

Sungari River

2005-03-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

The Sungari rises in the Ch'ang-pai Mountains in the border area between Kirin and North Korea. Its upper course runs north through rugged

Piceni

2005-03-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

English Picenes Early Iron Age inhabitants of the Adriatic coast of Italy from Rimini to the Sangro River. Men and women dressed in wool; men wore armour, weapons, and ornaments of bronze or iron; women had numerous fibulae, torques, bracelets, girdles, and ornamental pendants. They had two main centres, one at Novilara in the north, and another around Belmonte and Fermo farther south. The

Dubuque

2005-03-19T05:15:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1834) of Dubuque county, northeastern Iowa, U.S., on the Mississippi River (bridged to East Dubuque, Illinois), opposite the junction of the Wisconsin and Illinois boundary lines. It was named for Julien Dubuque (1762–1810), a French Canadian trader who in 1788 concluded a treaty with the Fox giving him lead-mining rights. He was the first person of European descent to settle permanently

Evans, Walker

2005-03-18T04:17:00.000-08:00

American photographer, important primarily for documenting the effects of economic depression in the American South and photographically interpreting American folk architecture. His approach to photography was largely formed by the documentary photographs of the French photographer Eugène Atget, whose influence

Kinship, Double unilineal descent

2005-03-18T02:33:00.000-08:00

Double unilineal, or duolineal, descent is very rare. Arguably, a form of double descent exists among groups of Australian Aboriginals, but the most definitive examples are found in Africa. The Yako of Nigeria and the Herero of Namibia and Botswana are best known. The principle of double descent is that two kinds of descent group, patrilineal and matrilineal, exist

Wu Ching-tzu

2005-03-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

Wu Ching-tzu was a member of a scholarly and well-to-do family. He succeeded neither academically nor financially, however, and he was unable or unwilling to pass the higher official examinations. He mismanaged his inheritance

Dubuque

2005-03-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

Also called equine plague or perdesiekte viral disease of Equidae (horses, mules, donkeys, and zebras) caused by an orbivirus called AHSV (family Reoviridae) that is transmitted by arthropods, notably biting midges (Culicoides imicola). The disease, which is not usually fatal to indigenous zebra herds, is often fatal in horses. Dogs have also been fatally infected after eating virally contaminated horse

Civil Constitution Of The Clergy

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

There was a need to create a new administrative and financial framework for the French Church after the Revolutionary governing body, the National

Maxwell-boltzmann Distribution Law

2005-03-15T18:45:00.000-08:00

A description of the statistical distribution of the energies of the molecules of a classical gas. This distribution was first set forth by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1859, on the basis of probabilistic arguments, and gave the distribution of velocities among the molecules of a gas. Maxwell's finding was generalized (1871) by a German physicist, Ludwig Boltzmann,

Khons

2005-03-15T17:18:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Khonsu, Khensu, or Chons, in ancient Egyptian religion, moon god who was generally depicted as a youth. A deity with astronomical associations named Khenzu is known from the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350 BC) and is possibly the same as Khons. In Egyptian mythology, Khons was regarded as the son of the god Amon and the goddess Mut. In the period of the late New Kingdom (c. 1100 BC) a major temple was built for Khons in the Karnak

Keck Observatory

2005-03-14T07:03:00.000-08:00

Construction of the Keck Observatory was funded

Jam And Lewis

2005-03-13T17:19:00.000-08:00

Jam and Lewis's emergence as major record producers was kick-started by Prince's pique. Keyboard player Jimmy Jam (James Harris III) and bassist Terry Lewis played together in local Minneapolis bands while in high school, graduating to Flyte Tyme, which evolved into Prince's backing band, the Time, in 1981. When Jam and Lewis produced the SOS Band's hit “Just Be Good to Me” in 1983, they

Resin

2005-03-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

Any natural or synthetic organic compound consisting of a noncrystalline or viscous liquid substance. Natural resins are typically fusible and flammable organic substances that are transparent or translucent and are yellowish to brown in colour. They are formed in plant secretions and are soluble in various organic liquids but not in water. Synthetic

Valdés Leal, Juan De Nisa

2005-03-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

His father was Portuguese, and Valdés Leal was educated in Córdoba under the guidance of Antonio del Castillo and worked there until 1653. For the next few years he

Kuwait

2005-03-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Low oil prices caused 1998 to be an extremely difficult year for all oil producers, and Kuwait was obliged to take a hard look at its industry and initiate some significant

Traube, Isidor

2005-03-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

In 1882 Traube joined the faculty of the Technische Hochschule, Berlin, and there became professor of chemistry in 1900. He left Germany in 1939 and accepted a position

Piedmont

2005-03-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

Geographic region in the eastern United States, running some 600 miles (950 km) between New Jersey (north) and Alabama (south) and lying between the Appalachian Mountains (west) and the Atlantic Coastal Plain (east). It comprises a relatively low rolling plateau (from 300 to 1,800 feet [90 to 550 m]) cut by many rivers and is a fertile agricultural region. Cotton is the most important crop in the southern

Bredero, Gerbrand Adriaenszoon

2005-03-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

The conflict between Bredero's experiences of the medieval, full-blooded life of the backstreets of Amsterdam and the sophistication of the Renaissance intelligentsia was most evident in his earliest poetry, which is collected

Swiss Literature

2005-03-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Properly, the writings in the only language peculiar to Switzerland, the Rhaeto-Romanic dialect known as Romansh, though broadly it includes all works written by Swiss nationals in any of the three other languages of their country: German, French, and Italian, or the Swiss dialect forms of any one of them. It also should be noted that the earliest literature produced

Toad Bug

2005-03-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

Toad bugs are found in all zoogeographic regions living along the muddy edges of streams and ponds. Some species spend part

Rajasthan, Education and welfare

2005-03-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

There are a number of educational establishments in Rajasthan, including state-run universities at Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Ajmer; the Open University at Kota; and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Pilani. There are several state hospitals and dispensaries. There also are many Ayurvedic, Unani (a medicinal system using prescribed herbs and shrubs), and

Ryobu Shinto

2005-03-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

Also called Shingon Shinto, in Japanese religion, the syncretic school that combined Shinto with the teachings of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. The school developed during the late Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1192–1333) periods. The basis of the school's beliefs was the Japanese concept that Shinto deities (kami) were manifestations of Buddhist divinities. Most important was the identification of the sun goddess

Gabon

2005-03-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

Amid a rising wave of urban crime, on March 1, 2001, Gabon's minister of the interior suspended the import and sale of firearms. Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane addressed the National Assembly on May 16 to answer deputies' concerns about public safety. Despite the creation during the year of a special crime squad, the incidents of armed robbery and other violent

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The Greeks

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

Hellenic tradition after Homer stands in sharp contrast to this concentration on the fulfilling of a divine plan. The analytic, essentially scientific histories of Herodotus and Thucydides precluded much confident belief in visionary providence. The Greeks rather believed history to be structured in cycles, as distinct from the more purposive linearity

Vanir

2005-03-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

In Norse mythology, race of gods responsible for wealth, fertility, and commerce and subordinate to the warlike Aesir. As reparation for the torture of their goddess Gullveig, the Vanir demanded from the Aesir monetary satisfaction or equal status. Declaring war instead, the Aesir suffered numerous defeats before granting equality. The Vanir sent their gods Nj

Asvaghosa

2005-03-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

Asvaghosa was born a Brahman. Legend obscures the man, but it is known that he was an outspoken opponent of Buddhism until, after a heated debate with a noted Buddhist scholar

Knickerbocker School

2005-03-05T02:58:00.000-08:00

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

Skagerrak

2005-03-05T00:27:00.000-08:00

Rectangular arm of the North Sea, trending southwest to northeast between Norway on the north and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark on the south. About 150 miles (240 km) long and 80–90 miles (130–145 km) wide, Skagerrak narrows between Cape Skagen (the Skaw), Denmark, and the Swedish coast before turning south into the Kattegat toward the Danish sounds and the Baltic Sea. Shallow along the Danish

Erik I

2005-03-04T17:06:00.000-08:00

Byname Erik Bloodax, Norwegian Eirik BlodØks king of Norway (c. 930–935) and later king of Northumberland (948, 952–954). On the death of his father, Harald I Fairhair, first king of united Norway, Erik attempted to make himself sole king of Norway, defeating and slaying two of his brothers to whom vassal kingdoms had been assigned by their father; but his tyranny fostered the reaction that had set in against the strong rule

Thompson

2005-03-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Manitoba, Canada. It lies along the Burntwood River, in the Mystery-Moak lakes area, 130 miles (210 km) north of Lake Winnipeg. Planned in 1956 by the International Nickel Company of Canada and named for John F. Thompson, the company chairman, the community was completed in 1961. Its integrated nickel mining-smelting-refining plant was the first in the Western Hemisphere.

Densmore, Frances

2005-03-04T00:59:00.000-08:00

After studying at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Densmore conducted research in Indian music for the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1907. She subsequently worked

Jehovah

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

Judeo-Christian name for God, derived from Yahweh (q.v.).

Bylina

2005-03-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

Plural Byliny, traditional form of Old Russian and Russian heroic narrative poetry transmitted orally, still a creative tradition in the 20th century. The oldest byliny belong to a cycle dealing with the golden age of Kievan Rus in the 10th–12th century. They centre on the deeds of Prince Vladimir I and his court. One of the favourite heroes is the independent Cossack Ilya of Murom, who defended

Uberlândia

2005-03-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

City, western Minas Gerais estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies along the Bom Jardim River, which is a tributary of the Araguari River (also known as the Velhas River), at 2,802 feet (854 m) above sea level. It was given city status in 1892. Uberlândia is a trade centre for a primarily agricultural and pastoral hinterland whose chief crops include cotton, corn (maize), rice, and feijão (beans). The city

Monck (of Ballytrammon), Sir Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount, 1st Baron Monck Of Ballytrammon

2005-03-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

Monck was educated at Trinity College in Dublin and was called to practice in the Irish bar in 1841. On the death of his father he succeeded to the peerage of Ireland in 1849 and was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal member from Portsmouth.

Hennebique, François

2005-03-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

At the Paris Exposition of 1867, Hennebique saw Joseph Monier's tubs and tanks built of concrete reinforced with wire mesh and was stimulated to seek a way to apply this new material to building construction. He began with reinforced-concrete

Badminton

2005-03-01T02:35:00.000-08:00

The temporary retirement of reigning Olympic badminton gold medalist Gong Zhichao opened the door for Denmark's Camilla Martin at the All England championships in Birmingham, Eng., in March 2002. Nevertheless, Martin had to overcome four formidable Chinese opponents on her way to her first All England title, including a semifinal victory over Dai Yun and a final-round

Hindu Kush, Animal life

2005-02-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard.

Chandra Shekhar

2005-02-28T03:31:00.000-08:00

Shekhar was a leading member of the Socialist Party before he joined the ruling Congress Party in 1964. He was a member of India's upper legislative chamber, the Rajya Sabha, from 1962 to 1967, and he held a seat in the lower chamber, the Lok Sabha, in 1977–79, 1980–84, and from 1989 until he became prime

Axinite

2005-02-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Borosilicate mineral that occurs most commonly in contact metamorphic rocks and also in basic igneous rocks. Particularly beautiful crystals occur at Le Bourg d'Oisans, Isère, France, and in San Diego County, Calif., U.S. Transparent axinite of the usual clove-brown colour is sometimes cut as a gem. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see silicate

Melitopol

2005-02-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Melitopol ', city, Zaporozhye oblast (province), Ukraine, on the Molochnaya River. The settlement of Novo-Aleksandrovka grew up in the late 18th century, and in 1841 it became the city of Melitopol. The centre of a fruit-growing area, modern Melitopol has engineering plants and light industries. Pop. (1993 est.) 178,000.

Eisteddfod

2005-02-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

Plural Eisteddfods, or Eisteddfodau, formal assembly of Welsh bards and minstrels that originated in the traditions of court bards of medieval times. The modern National Eisteddfod, revived in the 19th century and held each summer alternately in a site in North or South Wales, has been broadened to include awards for music, prose, drama, and art, but the chairing and investiture of the winning poet remains

Aubrey, John

2005-02-26T01:20:00.000-08:00

Antiquarian and writer, best known for his vivid, intimate, and sometimes acid biographical sketches of his contemporaries. Educated at Oxford at Trinity College, he studied law in London at the Middle Temple. He early displayed his interest in antiquities by calling attention to the prehistoric stones at Avebury,

Kachina

2005-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

In Pueblo Indian religious practice, any of more than 500 divine ancestral spirits who act as intermediaries between man and god. Each tribe has its distinct forms and variations. Kachinas are believed to reside with the tribe for half of each year. They will allow themselves to be seen by the community if the men properly perform a traditional ritual while wearing kachina

Eusden, Laurence

2005-02-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

British poet who, by flattering the Duke of Newcastle, was made poet laureate in 1718. He became rector of Coningsby and held the laureateship until his death. Alexander Pope satirized him frequently and derisively.

Orange

2005-02-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

The town has grown up around the Roman monuments for which it is famous. The semicircular theatre, probably built during the reign of the first Roman emperor, Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), is the best preserved of its kind. The tiered

Tadoba National Park

2005-02-24T05:57:00.000-08:00

National park in Maharashtra state, western India. Extending over an area of 45 square miles (117 square km), the park consists of dense forests of sal (Shorea), margosa, mahua, and mango, interspersed with lakes and plains; stretches of bamboo thickets are found around Tadoba Lake, for which the park is named. It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1935 and declared a national park

Arisaema

2005-02-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

Of the hardy species often planted in the shady wild garden, two are especially familiar. The jack-in-the-pulpit, or Indian turnip (A. triphyllum), native to eastern North America, usually has

Yangtze Plain

2005-02-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Ch'ang Chiang P'ing-yüan, Pinyin Chang Jiang Pingyuan, series of alluvial plains of uneven width along the Yangtze River and its major tributaries, beginning east of I-ch'ang (Hupeh province), China. The Middle Yangtze Plain comprises parts of northeastern Hunan, southeastern Hupeh, and north-central Kiangsi provinces, including Tung-t'ing, P'o-yang, and Hung lakes. The Lower Yangtze Plain includes the Yangtze River delta

Technology, History Of, The putative autonomy of technology

2005-02-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

Secondly, the definition of technology as the systematic study of techniques for making and doing things establishes technology as a social phenomenon and thus as one that cannot possess complete autonomy, unaffected by the society in which it exists. It is necessary to make what may seem to be such an obvious statement because so much autonomy has been ascribed

Adams, Douglas Noël

2005-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

British novelist (b. March 11, 1952, Cambridge, Eng.—d. May 11, 2001, Santa Barbara, Calif.), was the creator of the satiric science-fiction whimsy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which first saw life as a radio series and then became a book, a television series, a play, record albums, comic books, and a computer game, gaining cult status along the way. The book and its sequels feature British

Mormon

2005-02-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

Mormons accept the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly.” Smith did not finish his translation of the Bible, which incorporates prophecies of his own coming and of the Book of Mormon, which is central to Mormon belief. The Book of Mormon is largely similar in style and themes to the Old Testament. It recounts the history of a group of Hebrews who migrated from Jerusalem

Uzun Hasan

2005-02-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

With the death of Kara Osman, founder of the Ak Koyunlu dynasty, in 1435, a civil war ensued among his descendants. By 1453 Uzun Hasan had emerged victorious and succeeded to the throne. His principality, centred at Amida, was surrounded

Religion, Seventh-day Adventist Church.

2005-02-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Celebrating 100 years of Adventism in southern Asia, the Annual Council of the world church met in Bangalore, India, in 1993. The church at first grew very slowly there, but in recent years India had become a fruitful field for growth, and membership in 1993 approached 200,000. The church in India was also moving toward financial strength; the centenary year saw the first conference, Mizoram,

Anna Comnena

2005-02-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

Anna received a good education, studying, among other subjects, literature, philosophy, history, and geography. She married the

Death Rite, Commemorative rites and services

2005-02-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

The attitude of the living toward the dead has also been conditioned by the particular belief held about the human nature and destiny. Where death is regarded as the virtual extinction of the personality, the dead should logically have no more importance beyond that which their memory might stir in those who knew them. Even in the negative eschatologies of ancient

Xiangkhoang Plateau

2005-02-18T03:05:00.000-08:00

French Plateau de Xiangkhoang , formerly Plateau du Tranninh , English Tran Ninh Plateau dissected upland of complex geologic structure in north-central Laos. The plateau constitutes a western extension of the northern Annamite Chain; it is drained principally by the Ngum and Ngiap (Nhiêp) rivers to the south and the Khan River to the north, all of which are Mekong River tributaries. Once the upland's limestone and sandstone hills were covered with tropical

Villon, François

2005-02-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

The criminal history of Villon's life can all too easily obscure the scholar, trained in the rigorous intellectual disciplines of the medieval schools. While it is true that his poetry makes a direct unsentimental appeal to our emotions, it is also true that it displays a remarkable control of rhyme and reveals a disciplined composition that suggests a deep concern

Religion, Seventh-day Adventist Church.

2005-02-17T00:19:00.000-08:00

Any member of the mammalian order made up of the relatively well-known rabbits and hares (family Leporidae) and also the less frequently encountered pikas (family Ochotonidae). Rabbits and hares characteristically have long ears, a short tail, and strong hind limbs that provide a bounding locomotion. In contrast, the smaller pikas have shorter, rounded ears, no external

Computers, Application software

2005-02-16T03:55:00.000-08:00

The availability of BASIC and CP/M enabled more widespread software development. By 1977, a two-person firm called Structured Systems Group started developing a General Ledger program, perhaps the first serious business software, which sold for $995. The company shipped its software in zip-lock bags with a manual, a practice that became common in the industry. General Ledger

House

2005-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

Style of high-tempo, electronic dance music that originated in Chicago in the early 1980s and spread internationally. Born in Chicago clubs that catered to gay, predominantly black and Latino patrons, house fused the symphonic sweep and soul diva vocals of 1970s disco with the cold futurism of synthesizer-driven Eurodisco. Invented by deejay-producers such as Frankie Knuckles

Cranbrook Academy Of Art

2005-02-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., U.S. The school and its associated museum were designed largely by Finnish-American architect Eliel Saarinen. Cranbrook Academy of Art is devoted solely to graduate study in the arts, offering master's degree programs in fine arts and architecture. Areas of study include architecture,

Alexander Aetolus

2005-02-15T00:49:00.000-08:00

Greek poet of Pleuron, in Aetolia. He was appointed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Macedonian king of Egypt, to arrange and catalog the tragedies in the library at Alexandria. Nothing remains of his own tragic writing except the title of one play, Astragalistae (“The Dice Players”). A few fragments of his shorter writings are extant, including a brief appreciation of Euripides.

Bottomry

2005-02-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

A maritime contract (now almost obsolete) by which the owner of a ship borrows money for equipping or repairing the vessel and, for a definite term, pledges the ship as security—it being stipulated that if the ship be lost in the specified voyage or period, by any of the perils enumerated, the lender shall lose his money. A similar contract creating a security interest

Amorphous Solid, Melt quenching

2005-02-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

Preparation of metallic glasses requires a quite rapid quench. The technique shown in Figure 4C, called splat quenching, can quench a droplet of a molten metal roughly 1,000° C in one millisecond, producing a thin film of metal that is an amorphous solid. In enormous contrast to this, the silicate

López Rega, José

2005-02-13T14:34:00.000-08:00

A retired police corporal and longtime right-wing Peronista leader, López Rega acted as private secretary to Juan Perón during the latter's exile in Spain. López Rega returned to Argentina with Perón in 1973. When

Beadle, George Wells

2005-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

After earning his doctorate in genetics from Cornell University (1931), Beadle went to the laboratory of

Anderson

2005-02-13T00:28:00.000-08:00

Anderson is a manufacturing

Amberjack

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

Any of several popular sport fishes. See jack.

Vitale Da Bologna,

2005-02-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

The first official record of Vitale was in Bologna, where he painted the Odofredi Chapel in the Church of San Francesco. During this period he is credited with painting the “Last Supper” (1340; Pinacoteca, Bologna)

Epistemology, Ancient

2005-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

An excellent collection on skepticism is Miles Burnyeat (ed.), The Skeptical Tradition (1983). For Greek Skepticism in particular, see Charlotte L. Stough, Greek Skepticism: A Study in Epistemology (1969). The chief epistemological works of Plato are his Meno, Theaetetus, and Republic, especially Books V–VII. The views of Aristotle can be found in On the Soul, Metaphysics, Book IV, ch. 5 and 6, and Posterior Analytics, Book I, ch. 3. The locus classicus for ancient skepticism is R.G. Bury (trans.), Sextus Empiricus, 4 vol. (1933–49), in The Loeb Classical Library series. From among the voluminous writings of Augustine, see Against the Academicians, trans. by Mary Patricia Garvey (1942, reissued 1978).

Yamasee War

2005-02-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

(1715–16), in British-American colonial history, conflict between Indians, mainly Yamasee, and British colonists in the southeastern area of South Carolina, resulting in the collapse of Indian power in that area. Embittered by settlers' encroachment upon their land and by unresolved grievances arising from the fur trade, a group of Yamasees rose and killed 90 white traders

A-pao-chi

2005-02-10T05:29:00.000-08:00

Elected to a three-year term as great khan of the Khitans, A-pao-chi refused to resign at the end of his term but made himself king of the Khitan nation. After the collapse in 907 of T'ang rule in China, A-pao-chi made himself emperor and by 916 had set up a Chinese-style dynasty, with

Sabi River

2005-02-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

Also called Save River, river of southeastern Africa, flowing through Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The river rises as the Sabi about 50 miles (80 km) south of Harare (formerly Salisbury) and flows southeast from the Zimbabwean highveld to its confluence with the Odzi. It then turns south, drops over the Chivirira (“Place of Boiling”) Falls, and is joined by the Lundi at the Mozambique border. The river continues

Biblical Literature, New Testament canon, texts, and versions

2005-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

(Canon): For the relevant primary texts on the history of the canon, see Daniel J. Theron (ed.), Evidence of Tradition (1957), with selected source material in Greek or Latin with English translation; and James Stevenson (ed.), A New Eusebius (1957). For introductions, see Alexander Souter and C.S.C. Williams, The Text and Canon of the New Testament, 2nd ed. rev. (1954); and Robert M. Grant, The Formation of the New Testament (1965). For a phenomenological approach, see Gerardus van der Leeuw, Phänomenologie der Religion, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1956; Eng. trans., Religion in Essence and Manifestation, 2nd ed., 2 vol., 1963), ch. 64. (Texts): The major text for further study is Bruce H. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (1964). (Translations): On translation in general, see Reuben A. Brower (ed.), On Translation (1959). For translation of the Bible into English, see Frederick F. Bruce, The English Bible: A History of Translations from the Earliest English Versions to the New English Bible, 2nd ed. (1970).

Biblical Literature, Ecclesiastes

2005-02-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

The book of Ecclesiastes is a work of the Hebrew wisdom movement, associated by its title and by tradition with King Solomon. It is evident, however, that the book is of much later composition; the author may have identified himself with the famous king and wise man of the past to give greater authority to his work. The language of the book, including the relatively large

Novgorod

2005-02-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Oblast (province), northwestern Russia, occupying an area of 21,300 square miles (55,300 square km) and extending across the morainic Valdai Hills, which rise to 971 ft (296 m); the lowland basins of Lake Ilmen lie to the west and of the upper Volga River to the east. Much of the oblast's terrain is in swamp of peat bog or reed and grass marsh, with innumerable small lakes. The remainder (about 60 percent)

Europe, Concert Of

2005-02-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

In the post-Napoleonic era, the vague consensus among the European monarchies favouring preservation of the territorial and political status quo. The term assumed the responsibility and right of the great powers to intervene and impose their collective will on states threatened by internal rebellion. The powers notably suppressed uprisings in Italy (1820) and Spain

Gad Al-haq Ali Gad Al-haq

2005-02-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Egyptian religious leader who, as grand sheikh of al-Azhar, the Muslim world's highest religious body, issued rulings based on strict Islamic orthodoxy, including support for female circumcision and harsh punishment for those breaking the fast during Ramadan (b. April 5, 1917--d. March 15, 1996).

Hinduism, Philosophical sutras and the rise of the six schools of philosophy

2005-02-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

The most important of the Six Schools is the Vedanta (“End of the Vedas”), also called Uttara-Mimamsa, or later Mimamsa. The most renowned philosopher of this school and, indeed, of all Hinduism was Sankara