FutureCamera

Lowell, A(bbott) Lawrence

2005-04-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

A member of a prominent Boston family, Lowell was the brother of the astronomer Percival Lowell and of the poet Amy Lowell. He graduated from Harvard (A.B. 1877, LL.B. 1880) and practiced law in Boston for 17 years before turning

Pitman Shorthand

2005-04-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

System of rapid writing based on the sounds of words (i.e., the phonetic principle) rather than on conventional spellings. Invented by Sir Isaac Pitman, an English educator, the Pitman shorthand method was first published in 1837 as Stenographic Sound Hand. Pitman's system classifies the sounds of a language into basic groups and makes use of simple abbreviations for rapidity.

Dualism

2005-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

In philosophy, the use of two irreducible, heterogeneous principles (sometimes in conflict, sometimes complementary) to analyze the knowing process (epistemological dualism) or to explain all of reality or some broad aspect of it (metaphysical dualism). Examples of epistemological dualism are being and thought, subject and object, and sense datum and thing; examples

Syriac Alphabet

2005-04-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

Writing system used by the Syriac Christians from the 1st century AD until about the 14th century. A Semitic alphabet, Syriac was an offshoot of a cursive Aramaic script. It had 22 letters, all representing consonants, and was generally written from right to left, although occasionally vertically downward. Diacritical marks to represent vowels were introduced in the 8th

Bartholin, Caspar Berthelsen

2005-04-02T06:14:00.000-08:00

At the University of Padua (1608–10) Bartholin conducted anatomical studies under the famed Italian anatomist Hieronymus Fabricius ab Aquapendente. These formed the basis for his manual Anatomicae Institutiones Corporis

Deneb

2005-04-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

Also called Alpha Cygni, one of the brightest stars, with an apparent magnitude of 1.26. This star is, at about 1,400 light-years' distance, one of the most remote (thus one of the brightest intrinsically) of the 20 apparently brightest stars. It lies in the northern constellation Cygnus.

Qatar, Industry

2005-03-31T06:44:00.000-08:00

Qatar has sought to diversify its economy through industrialization. Most of the industrial sector comprises large firms of mixed state and foreign private ownership. For example, the Qatar Steel Company is co-owned by the Qatari government and two Japanese companies, which constructed the plant and took responsibility for production, marketing, and exporting.

Cartesianism

2005-03-31T01:50:00.000-08:00

The philosophical and scientific traditions derived from the writings of the French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650).

Saldanha Bay

2005-03-31T01:26:00.000-08:00

Afrikaans Saldanhabaai, deep, essentially landlocked harbour of the Atlantic Ocean, situated on the southwest coast of South Africa. Named after the early 16th-century Portuguese navigator António de Saldanha, the bay is both larger and safer than Table Bay, which is located 65 miles (105 km) farther south-southeast. Saldanha Bay's former abundance of seals, fish, and guano deposits was long contested

Rabbit

2005-03-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

Rabbits are ground dwellers that live

Pyramid

2005-03-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, western Asia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, India, Thailand, Mexico, South America,

Ricardo, David

2005-03-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ricardo was the

Kucha

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

Wade-Giles romanization K'u-ch'e, Pinyin Kuqa, oasis city in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. The oasis of Kucha lies at the foot of the southern slope of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”) on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin. It is watered by the Kucha and Mu-cha-t'i rivers, which during rainy spells flow into the Tarim River but which for most of the year lose themselves in the salt marshes on the northern

Anastasius Sinaita, Saint

2005-03-26T18:35:00.000-08:00

Theologian and abbot of the Monastery of St. Catherine, on Mt. Sinai, whose writings, public disputes with various heretical movements in Egypt and Syria, and polemics against the Jews made him in his day a foremost advocate of orthodox Christian doctrine, specifically on the person and work of Christ, and provided key documents for the history

Condé, Louis Ii De Bourbon, 4e Prince De

2005-03-26T00:45:00.000-08:00

The princes de Condé were the heads of an important French branch of the House of Bourbon. The Great Condé was the elder son of Henry II de Bourbon, 3rd prince de Condé, and of his wife, Charlotte

Ariel

2005-03-24T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ariel orbits at a distance of 191,020 km (118,432 miles) from the centre of the planet. It has a period of 2.52 days. Ariel's estimated diameter is 1,330 km (825 miles), and its mass is thought to be about 1.8 ´ 10-5 that of Uranus.

Permafrost, Thermokarst formations

2005-03-24T07:28:00.000-08:00

Thawed

Quadratic Equation

2005-03-24T03:43:00.000-08:00

The discriminant b2 - 4ac gives information

United States, Animal life

2005-03-23T10:27:00.000-08:00

The mammals of the two coasts are strikingly different, though true seals (the harbour seal and the harp seal) are found on both. The sea lions, with longer necks and with projecting ears, are found only in the Pacific—the California sea lion, the more northern Steller's sea lion, and the fur seal. On the East Coast the larger rivers of Florida are inhabited by the Florida manatee, or sea cow, a close relative of the more widespread and more distinctively marine West Indian species.

Arianism

2005-03-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

A Christian heresy first proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. It affirmed that Christ is not truly divine but a created being. Arius' basic premise was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self-existent and immutable; the Son, who is not self-existent, cannot be God. Because the Godhead is unique, it cannot be shared or communicated, so the Son

Adams, Henry (brooks)

2005-03-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Adams was the product of Boston's Brahmin class, a cultured elite that traced its lineage to Puritan New England. He was the great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents

Kunlun Mountains

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

The northern rim of the Kunlun Mountains, skirting the Tarim Basin, served for centuries as the southerly branch of the Silk Road that, until the 16th century, connected China with Central and West Asia. Wool and salt were the main products brought down from the heights of the Kunluns to the oases on the edge of the Takla Makan Desert. Small regional Buddhist monasteries

Roman Catholicism, History Of

2005-03-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

As both its critics and its champions would probably agree, Roman Catholicism has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. There are more Roman Catholics in the world than there are believers of any other religious tradition—not merely

Criminology, Typologies

2005-03-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

The typological method involves classifying offenses, criminals, criminal associations, criminal areas, or whatever according to some criteria of relatedness or similarity. Thus there have been attempts to dichotomize criminals as either “normal” or “abnormal,” “habitual” or “professional,” or to form a continuum of criminals from the “insane” at one extreme through

Stafford, Jean

2005-03-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder (B.A., 1936; M.A., 1936), Stafford studied at Heidelberg University in Germany (1936–37). When she returned to the United States and settled in Boston, she painstakingly completed a four-year

Grade, Chaim

2005-03-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

Yiddish poet, short-story writer, and novelist who was one of the last surviving secularized Yiddish writers to have been educated in a European yeshiva (rabbinical seminary). His fiction reflects an intimate knowledge of the complexities and breadth of that vanished culture and

Mardi Gras

2005-03-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

(French: Fat Tuesday), festive day celebrated in France on the Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday; q.v.) before Ash Wednesday, which marks the close of the pre-Lenten season. In the United States the festival is most elaborately celebrated in New Orleans. See carnival.

Furniture, 19th century and modern

2005-03-18T00:51:00.000-08:00

E.D. and F. Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (1937); R.V. Symonds and B.B. Whineray, Victorian Furniture (1962), with many illustrations; Serge Grandjean, Empire Furniture, 1800 to 1825 (1966); Mikolaus Pevsner, Pioneers of Modern Design from William Morris to Walter Gropius (1960); Jean Cassou, Emile Langue, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Les Sources du vingtieme siecle (1961); John F. Pile, Modern Furniture (1979); Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (1981); David A. Hanks, Innovative Furniture in America from 1800 to the Present (1981).

Kamehameha Iv

2005-03-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

Original name Alexander Liholiho Hawaiian sovereign known for his firm opposition to the annexation of his kingdom by the United States. As Kamehameha IV, he strove to curb the political power of the American Protestant missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands. Dedicated to protecting his people, who were rapidly dying out because of disease, he sponsored

Hettangian Stage

2005-03-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

The name Hettangian

Richet, Charles

2005-03-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

In full Charles-Robert Richet French physiologist who won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of and coining of the term anaphylaxis, the life-threatening allergic reaction he observed in a sensitized animal upon second exposure to an antigen. This research provided the first evidence that an immune response could cause damage as well as

T'ien Ming

2005-03-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

The continuation of the mandate was believed to be conditioned by the personal behaviour of the ruler, who was expected to possess i (“righteousness”) and jen (“benevolence

New Caledonia

2005-03-15T04:53:00.000-08:00

Officially Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies , French Territoire de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et Dépendances French overseas territory in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 900 miles (1,500 kilometres) east of Australia. It includes the island of New Caledonia (the Grande Terre, or mainland), where the capital, Nouméa, is located; the Loyalty Islands; the Bélep Islands; and the Isle of Pines. These islands, which form more than 99 percent of the total land area of about 7,300 square miles (19,000 square

Bracken

2005-03-15T04:37:00.000-08:00

Also called Brake, genus of ferns (Pteridium), the sole species (P. aquilinum) of which is widely distributed throughout the world in temperate and tropical regions. The species is represented by 12 varieties, 4 of which occur in North America and Great Britain. Variety pubescens grows from Alaska to Mexico, east to Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. Variety latiusculum, growing also in

Terceira Island

2005-03-14T17:04:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Ilha Terceira, island, part of the Portuguese Azores archipelago, in the North Atlantic Ocean. It occupies an area of 153 square miles (397 square km). Terceira (The Third) was so called because it was the third island in the Azores to be discovered by the Portuguese. The chief town and port is Angra do Heroísmo, which was formerly capital of the Azores. The only other town of importance is Praia

Celestine Ii

2005-03-14T04:08:00.000-08:00

A scholar of noble birth, he studied under Peter Abélard, with whom he remained on friendly terms even after Abélard's condemnation at the Council of Sens (1140). He was made cardinal deacon in 1127 by Pope Honorius II and cardinal priest (c. 1134) by Pope Innocent II, whom he was elected to succeed on Sept. 26, 1143. As pope (consecrated

Kachin Hills

2005-03-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

Heavily forested group of highlands situated in the northeasternmost section of Myanmar (Burma). They range north-south and are bordered on the northwest by Arunachal Pradesh state of India, on the north by the Tibet autonomous region of China, and on the east by Yunnan province of China. The hills blend with the Kumon Range to the west. The Kachin Hills are drained by

Catamarca

2005-03-12T09:30:00.000-08:00

Also called San Fernando Del Valle De Catamarca city, capital of Catamarca province, northwestern Argentina, on the Río del Valle de Catamarca, a river between the two south-pointing spurs of the Andean sierras of Ambato and Ancasti. Originally named Londres, it was founded by the explorer Juan Pérez de Zurita (1559) in the Valle de Quinmivil. Following various moves due to hostile Indians, Catamarca was established in

Anthracosis

2005-03-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

Respiratory disorder, the early, usually nonsymptomatic stage of coal-workers' pneumoconiosis. See black lung.

Epistemology, Kinds of perceptions

2005-03-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

Hume has a twofold division of perceptions: impressions and ideas. Impressions are perceptions that enter with “most force and violence.” Ideas are “faint images” of impressions. Hume thinks the distinction so obvious that he demurs from explaining it at any length. Impressions are felt; ideas are thought, he indicates in his summary explication. He also concedes that,

Pacific Islands, Changing administrations

2005-03-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

Two United Nations trust territories were the first to achieve sovereignty as independent nations—Western Samoa (now Samoa) in 1962 and Nauru in 1968. The first continued to rely on New Zealand in foreign affairs, while Nauru ended its trusteeship ties with Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. New Zealand, a Commonwealth member with a self-conscious Maori Polynesian

Vries, Adriaen De

2005-03-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

De Vries left his homeland, where there was little interest in sculpture at the time, and he never returned. In Florence he studied under Giambologna, the leading Italian Mannerist sculptor of his day. De Vries lived for a time in Rome and later worked for Charles Emmanuel, duke of Savoy, and as court sculptor

Performing Arts, Asia.

2005-03-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

The most attractive films to emerge from Japan were Kohei Oguri's Sleeping Man, which portrayed relationships in a village where people still feel close to older traditions governing the approach to nature, life, and death, and Higashi Yoichi's Village of Dreams, a magical evocation of the world of childhood. Adapted from the nostalgic memoirs of the artist Tashima

Bernicia

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

In British history, a northern Anglo-Saxon kingdom that by the last quarter of the 7th century had become permanently united with its neighbour Deira to form the kingdom of Northumbria. Bernicia stretched northward from perhaps as far south as the River Tees, ultimately reaching the Firth of Forth and beyond the Solway Firth. It had a royal residence at Bamburgh on

General San Martín

2005-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

Formerly San Martín, cabecera (county seat) and partido (county) of Gran (“Greater”) Buenos Aires, Argentina. It lies immediately northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The county seat and county began as an early rural settlement centred on the 18th-century Chapel of Santos Lugares. In 1856 the settlement was formally declared a town, and eight years later the county of San

Van Allen, James Alfred

2005-03-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Van Allen was a naval officer during World War II and helped develop the radio proximity fuse for naval artillery shells. In 1946 he was placed in

Nevada, Emma

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

Emma Wixom grew up in Nevada City, California, and in Austin, Nevada. She graduated from Mills Seminary (now College) in Oakland, California, in 1876. In Vienna on a European study tour in 1877, she met and was taken as a pupil by the

Yurok

2005-03-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yurok villages were small; a village was a collection of independent houses owned by individual families rather than a unified community with an overall political authority. Village

Earth, Representation of the field

2005-03-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

Electric and magnetic fields are produced by a fundamental property of matter, electric charge. Electric fields are created by charges at rest relative to an observer, whereas magnetic fields are produced by moving charges. The two fields are different aspects of the electromagnetic field, which is the force that causes electric charges to interact. The electric

Robert

2005-03-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Byname Robert Guiscard, or Robert De Hauteville, Italian Roberto Guiscardo, or Roberto D'altavilla Norman adventurer who settled in Apulia, in southern Italy, about 1047 and became duke of Apulia (1059). He eventually extended Norman rule over Naples, Calabria, and Sicily and laid the foundations of the Kingdom of Sicily.

China, The clerical staff

2005-03-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

The norms for the clerks were even lower, especially in local government. Some 300 clerks in a large prefecture or nearly 100 in a small one were placed under the supervision of a few officials. The clerks had numerous dealings with various other elements in the community, whereas the officials, being outsiders, rarely had direct contacts. Holding practically lifelong tenure

Competitive Exclusion, Principle Of

2005-03-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

Also called Gause's Principle, or Grinnell's Axiom (after G.F. Gause, a Soviet biologist, and J. Grinnell, an American naturalist, who first clearly established it), statement that in competition between species that seek the same ecological niche, one species survives while the other expires under a given set of environmental conditions.

Amphitryon

2005-03-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns. Having accidentally killed his uncle Electryon, king of Mycenae, Amphitryon fled with Alcmene, Electryon's daughter, to Thebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt by Creon, his maternal uncle, king of Thebes. Alcmene refused to marry Amphitryon until he had avenged the death of her brothers, all of whom except one had

Pacific Islands

2005-03-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

Geographic region of the Pacific Ocean. The term is commonly accepted as including all of those islands in the Pacific that are collectively referred to as Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, also sometimes known as Oceania. This usage rules out the Australian island continent, the Asia-related Indonesian, Philippine, and Japanese archipelagoes, and the Ryukyu,

Breitinger, Johann Jakob

2005-03-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

He studied theology and became professor at the Collegium Carolinum in Zurich. He lectured on Hebrew, Greek, Latin, logic, and rhetoric; showed excellence as a philologist in many editions; and advocated education on humanist lines

Fructosuria

2005-03-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

Disturbance of fructose metabolism resulting from a hereditary disorder or intolerance. Normally, fructose is first metabolized in the body to fructose-1-phosphate by a specific organic catalyst or enzyme called fructokinase. In fructosuria this particular enzyme is defective, and the concentration of fructose increases in the blood and urine. There are no

Abdul Razak Bin Hussein, Tun Haji

2005-03-03T22:23:00.000-08:00

A lawyer by training, Abdul Razak joined the civil service in 1950, entered politics in 1955, and was a key figure in gaining his country's independence from Britain in 1957. As deputy prime minister and defense minister (1957–70) and as minister

Gaudin, Martin-michel-charles, Duc (duke) De Gaëte

2005-03-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

From 1773 Gaudin worked in those bureaus of the Contrôle Générale des Finances that handled the collection of taxes, and he eventually rose to be a head of the tax department. In 1791, during the French Revolution, he was made a

North Germanic Languages, Swedish

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

Before the Swedish revolt of Gustav I Vasa in 1525, Danish influence on the Swedish language had been strong; the new government, however, made vigorous efforts to eliminate this. The written norm was based on one that had developed in the manuscripts of central Sweden, extending from the Vadstena monastery in eastern Götaland to Stockholm and Uppsala. In comparison to

Gao Xingjian

2005-03-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

Gao was educated in state schools and from 1957 to 1962 attended the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute,

Conti, Louis-armand Ii De Bourbon, Prince De

2005-03-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Only surviving son of François-Louis, the Great Conti. He was treated with great liberality by Louis XIV and also by the regent, Philippe, duc d'Orléans. He served under Marshal Villars in the War of the Spanish Succession, but he lacked the soldierly qualities of his father. In 1713 he married Louise-Élisabeth (1693–1775), daughter of Louis-Henri de Bourbon, 7th prince

Puerto Cabello

2005-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

Port city, northern Carabobo state, north-central Venezuela, situated on the Caribbean Sea. In colonial times, the waters of its well-protected harbour were said to be so smooth that a single hair (Spanish cabello) could moor a vessel to the dock, hence the name. The settlement has played a prominent part in Venezuelan history as a target of pirate attacks, a smuggling centre,

Utrillo, Maurice

2005-02-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

Utrillo was the illegitimate son of the model and artist Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938). His father was not known, and he was given a name by a Spanish art critic, Miguel Utrillo. The young Utrillo had no instruction as an artist

Dewas

2005-02-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

City, western Madhya Pradesh state, central India. It is located on the Malwa Plateau at the foot of the conical Chamunda Hill, which rises to a Devivasini shrine. Jaina and Hindu temple ruins lie just south of the city, in Nagara. The surrounding area consists chiefly of level plains of the Malwa Plateau, watered by the Narmada, Sipra, and Kali Sindh rivers. Wheat, sorghum, rice, cotton,

Earth Exploration

2005-02-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Texts on methodology and discoveries in Earth exploration include Arthur W. Rose, Herbert E. Hawkes, and John S. Webb, Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert F. Legget and Allen W. Hatheway, Geology and Engineering, 3rd ed. (1988); Sampling of Soil and Rock (1971), published by the American Society for Testing and Materials; Martin H.P. Bott, Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution, 2nd ed. (1982); George D. Garland, Introduction to Geophysics: Mantle, Core, and Crust, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert E. Sheriff (compiler), Encyclopedic Dictionary of Exploration Geophysics, 3rd ed. (1991); Robert E. Sheriff, Geophysical Methods (1989); Robert E. Sheriff and L.P. Geldart, Exploration Seismology, 2 vol. (1982–83); W.M. Telford, L.P. Geldart, and Robert E. Sheriff, Applied Geophysics, 2nd ed. (1980); Chuji Tsuboi, Gravity (1983; originally published in Japanese, 1979); W.D. Parkinson, Introduction to Geomagnetism (1983); J.A. Jacobs, A Textbook on Geonomy (1974); and Floyd F. Sabins, Jr., Remote Sensing: Principles and Interpretation, 2nd ed. (1987).

Acuña, Rosario De

2005-02-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Little is known of Acuña's early life. One of Spain's few women playwrights, she was considered radical for her willingness to address such issues as religious fanaticism, atheism, illegitimacy, civil marriage (and the possibility of divorce, anathema

Oss

2005-02-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Noord-Brabant provincie, south-central Netherlands, east-northeast of 's Hertogenbosch and about 3 miles (5 km) south of the Maas (Meuse) River. A food-processing town noted for margarine and meat products, it also manufactures pharmaceuticals (especially insulin and vitamins), electrical equipment, wool products, boxes, and metalware. Mainly Roman Catholic,

Paracel Islands

2005-02-26T00:55:00.000-08:00

Wade-Giles romanization Hsi-sha Ch'ün-tao , Pinyin Xisha Qundao , Vietnamese Quan Dao Hoang Sa group of about 130 small coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea. They lie about 250 miles (400 km) east of central Vietnam and about 220 miles (350 km) southeast of Hainan Island, China. Apart from a few isolated, outlying islands (Triton in the south, Lincoln in the east), they are divided into the Amphitrite group in the northeast and the Crescent group in the west. The low, barren islands,

Ngoy

2005-02-25T10:32:00.000-08:00

Former kingdom on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, just north of the Congo River, in an area that is now part of southern Cabinda (an exclave of Angola) and western Congo (Kinshasa). It was founded by Bantu-speaking people about the 15th century. The domestic and foreign slave trade rapidly became a major feature of the economy, with the port of Cabinda serving as the locus

Cyril And Methodius, Saints

2005-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

Brothers who for christianizing the Danubian Slavs and for influencing the religious and cultural development of all Slavic peoples received the title “the apostles of the Slavs.” Both were outstanding scholars, theologians, and

Alabama, European rivalry, settlement, and growth

2005-02-24T13:15:00.000-08:00

The first known European explorers were of Spanish descent and arrived at Mobile Bay in 1519. The main thrust of exploration came in 1540, when Hernando de Soto and his army of about 500 men entered the interior from the valley of the Tennessee River to search for gold. His expedition, which extensively crisscrossed the area, was important because of his discovery of the Mississippi

China, The United Front against Japan

2005-02-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

Fearing that, if Chiang were killed, China would be plunged into renewed disorder, the nation clamoured for his release. The Soviet Union quickly denounced the captors and insisted that Chiang be freed (the Soviet Union needed a united China opposing Japan, its potential enemy on the east). The CCP leaders also decided that Chiang's release would serve China's interests

Ekhof, Konrad

2005-02-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

In 1739 Ekhof became a member of the company managed by Johann Friedrich Schönemann, an association that extended over 17 years. Ekhof played leading roles in German

Extrametrical

2005-02-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

In prosody, exceeding the usual or prescribed number of syllables in a given metre. Also, in reference to a syllable or syllables not counted in metrical analysis. In the following final couplet from a sonnet by William Shakespeare, the ending syllables are extrametrical: Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;Suns of the world may stain when heaven's sun

Aquitaine

2005-02-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

In Julius Caesar's description of Gaul, “Aquitania” was an area extending from the Pyrenees to the Garonne River. The Roman

Lennep, Jacob Van

2005-02-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

Early in his career van Lennep found his natural genre, the historical novel, and his first such work, De pleegzoon (1833; The Adopted Son), was set in the 17th century. Like many of his later works it contains a strong element of adventure and a complicated plot. De lotgevallen

Celestial Sphere

2005-02-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

The apparent surface of the heavens, on which the stars seem to be fixed. For the purpose of establishing coordinate systems to mark the positions of heavenly bodies, it can be considered a real sphere at an infinite distance from the Earth. The Earth's axis, extended to infinity, touches this sphere at the north and south celestial poles, around which the heavens seem

Essex Decision

2005-02-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Decision rendered by the British High Court of Admiralty in 1804 and confirmed the following year, which contributed to the bad feeling between the United States and Great Britain that eventually led to the War of 1812. Britain and France were at war, and the American merchant vessel Essex had been captured by the British while transporting goods from the French West Indies

Gippsland

2005-02-20T02:15:00.000-08:00

Region of southeastern Victoria, Australia, extending northeast from Western Port (near Melbourne) to the New South Wales border and south from the Eastern Highlands to the coast, with an area of 13,600 square miles (35,200 square km). Fertile and well watered (34 inches [860 mm] annually), Gippsland is the focus of the state's dairy industry, supplying most of Melbourne's liquid milk. Lignite

Charles

2005-02-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

The son of Duke Philip III the Good of Burgundy, Charles was brought up in the French manner as a friend of the French dauphin, afterward Louis XI of France, who spent five years in Burgundy before his accession. Although he had shown no hostility toward France before taking over the government of Burgundy during his father's last illness, he thereupon gave rein to an

Aramaic Alphabet

2005-02-18T13:38:00.000-08:00

The Aramaic language and script were used as a lingua franca over all of the Middle

Daumier, Honoré

2005-02-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

He did not do so, however, for he had become preoccupied with new technical studies; earlier than others, he had discovered Impressionism—faces and bodies devoured by the surrounding light and becoming one with the atmosphere. He painted a great deal, and the more so as his studies in the new technique did not interest the satirical journals to which he now submitted

John (xxiii)

2005-02-18T01:30:00.000-08:00

After receiving his doctorate of law at Bologna, Cossa entered the Curia during the Western Schism, when the papacy suffered from rival claimants (1378–1417) to the throne of St. Peter. Pope Boniface IX made him cardinal in 1402. From 1403 to 1408 he served as papal representative in Bologna. The Schism worsened with the hopeless deadlock between

Grade Scale

2005-02-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

In sedimentology, division of a continuous range of particle sizes into a series of discrete groups, called grades. Several such scales have been devised for the purpose of standardizing terms and providing a basis for statistical analysis. On most scales, the finest particles are designated clay, followed by silt and then sand; other grades, which vary from scale

Interior Design, Rome

2005-02-17T16:13:00.000-08:00

Much more is known about Roman interior decoration, and Roman furniture was based on earlier Greek models. From the beginning of the Christian era the predominant Western style was that derived from ancient Greece by way of Rome. Classical styles were based on mathematically expressed laws of proportion that were applied not only to buildings as a whole but also

Clove Tree

2005-02-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

Tropical tree, a species of the genus Eugenia (q.v.).

Domestic Violence

2005-02-16T04:19:00.000-08:00

Social and legal concept that, in the broadest sense, refers to any abuse that takes place among people living in the same household, although the term is often used specifically to refer to assaults upon women by their male partners. Estimated annual figures for the number of women in the United States who are subjected to psychological, verbal, emotional, or physical

Industrial Design

2005-02-15T14:52:00.000-08:00

Design of products made by large-scale industry for mass distribution. Designing such products means, first, planning their structure, operation, and appearance and then planning these to fit efficient production, distribution, and selling procedures. Clearly, appearance is but one factor in such a complex process. Nevertheless, in consumer goods especially, appearance

Mabillon, Jean

2005-02-14T17:38:00.000-08:00

T. Ruinart, Abrégé de la vie de D.J.M. (1709), reprinted in 1933 as Mabillon; Henri Leclercq, Life, 2 vol. (1953–57); J.U. Bergkamp, Dom Jean Mabillon and the Benedictine Historical School of Saint-Maur (1928).

China, The Chou feudal system

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

The feudal states were not contiguous but, rather, were scattered at strategic locations surrounded by potentially dangerous and hostile nations. The fortified city of the feudal lord was often the only area that he controlled directly; the state and the city were therefore identical, both being kuo, a combination of city wall and weapons. Satellite cities were

Gamelyn, The Tale Of

2005-02-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

Anonymous English metrical romance of about 1350, some 900 lines long, written in the East Midland dialect of Middle English, in rhymed couplets. Based on English folklore, it tells of Gamelyn, son of Sir John de Boundys, who is deprived of his inheritance by his brother and becomes an outlaw in the forest. Eventually he is able to regain his estates, and the sheriff who had helped

Economic Development

2005-02-13T01:54:00.000-08:00

The process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed into modern industrial economies. Although the term is sometimes used as a synonym for economic growth, generally it is employed to describe a change in a country's economy involving qualitative as well as quantitative improvements. The theory of economic development—how primitive and

Fontanes, Louis, Marquis De

2005-02-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

As a young man, Fontanes lived in Paris and associated with the important literary figures of the time. When the Revolution came, he at first enthusiastically supported

Bodawpaya

2005-02-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

A son of Alaungpaya (reigned 1752–60), the founder of the dynasty, Bodawpaya came to power after deposing and executing his grandnephew Maung Maung. In 1784 Bodawpaya invaded Arakan, the maritime kingdom on the eastern coast of the

Gradus

2005-02-12T07:25:00.000-08:00

A dictionary of Greek or Latin prosody and poetic phrases used as an aid in the writing of verse in Greek or Latin. The term is derived from the Gradus ad Parnassum (“A Step to Parnassus”), a 17th-century prosody dictionary long used in British schools.

Diez, Friedrich Christian

2005-02-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

As a student Diez acquired a deep interest in Italian poetry, but a visit to the great German poet J.W. von Goethe in 1818 directed his attention to exploring

Arts, Central Asian, Neolithic and Metal Age cultures

2005-02-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Many Neolithic (New Stone Age) sites were discovered in what was formerly Soviet Central Asia, and the number of Bronze Age sites is even higher. The majority were found on the middle reaches of the Yenisey River, especially in the Minusinsk Basin, where metallurgy developed early. They testify to the existence of three main, basically successive, yet often overlapping

Rondeau

2005-02-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

The earliest rondeaux had stanzas of two or three lines; later, especially

Aghlabid Dynasty

2005-02-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

Also called Banu al-Aghlab Arab Muslim dynasty that ruled Ifriqiyah (Tunisia and eastern Algeria) from AD 800 to 909. The Aghlabids were nominally subject to the 'Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad but were in fact independent. Their capital city was Kairouan (al-Qayrawan), in Tunisia. The most interesting of the 11 Aghlabid emirs were the energetic and cultured Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab (reigned 800–812), founder of al-Abbasiyya (2 miles

Holabird, William

2005-02-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

U.S. architect who, with his partner, Martin Roche, was a leading exponent of the influential Chicago School of commercial architecture; their Tacoma Building (Chicago, 1886–89) established the use of a total steel skeleton as a framework for building skyscrapers—a significant advance over the pioneering use of metal supports in the