WaitingPen

Tarboosh

2005-04-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

The tarboosh, which is of

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig

2005-04-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

During World War I Mies served as an enlisted man, building bridges and roads in the Balkans. When he returned to Berlin in 1918, the fall of the German monarchy and the birth of the democratic Weimar Republic helped inspire a prodigious burst of new creativity among modernist artists and architects. Architecture, painting, and sculpture, according to the manifesto of

Computers, Invention of the modern computer

2005-04-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

G. Pascal Zachary, Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century (1997), presents a detailed account of Bush's role in transforming scientific research in the United States through government funding.

Chile, The northern desert

2005-04-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

This region experiences an aridity that is primarily caused by the dry subsidence created by the South Pacific high pressure cell and the stabilizing action of the cold Peru Current. Although the air along the coast is abnormally humid, it never reaches saturation point; at most, there is a development of coastal fogs (garúa or camanchaca). Besides the lack of rain,

Henie, Sonja

2005-04-02T13:32:00.000-08:00

Henie began skating when she was six years old. At age 10 she won the Norwegian national figure-skating championship, and

Switzerland, World War I and economic crisis

2005-04-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

An alliance of the bourgeois parties (representing propertied interests), including the conservatives and liberals who had clashed in 1847, confronted a labour movement that comprised trade unions and the Social Democratic Party. World War I, in which Switzerland remained neutral, not only caused tensions between the German-speaking Swiss and those speaking French

Madhva

2005-03-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

Born into a Brahman family, his life in many respects parallels the life of Jesus Christ. Miracles attributed to Christ in the New Testament were also attributed

Chiastolite

2005-03-30T22:05:00.000-08:00

A variety of the mineral andalusite (q.v.).

Alisol

2005-03-30T05:50:00.000-08:00

One of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Alisols are highly acidic, poorly drained soils prone to aluminum toxicity and water erosion. Liming and fertilization are essential to their agricultural use—primarily for growing oil palm, corn (maize), and cotton. Their extent has not been established definitively,

Wüthrich, Kurt

2005-03-29T07:05:00.000-08:00

After receiving a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Basel in 1964, Wüthrich took his postdoctoral training in Switzerland and the United

Albany Congress

2005-03-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

Conference in U.S. colonial history (June 19–July 11, 1754) at Albany, N.Y., which advocated a union of the British colonies in North America for their security and defense against the French, foreshadowing their later unification. The conference was convened by the British Board of Trade to help cement the loyalty of the Iroquois Confederacy, wavering between the French and the

Kaédi

2005-03-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Mauritania. It lies along the right bank of the Sénégal River where it is joined by the Gorgol River. The banks of these streams and other tributaries are seasonally inundated and cultivated and support the densest settled population in the nation. The remainder of the area, which receives more rainfall than regions farther north, is grazed by zebu

Taaffe, Eduard, Count (graf) Von

2005-03-25T22:41:00.000-08:00

Taaffe, who was of Irish descent

Feng Yü-hsiang

2005-03-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

A soldier at the age of 11, Feng was largely self-educated. He rose through the ranks, gathering under his command a highly disciplined body of troops. He urged his men to become Protestants, to engage in social reform, to acquire

Palatine Hill

2005-03-25T04:57:00.000-08:00

The Palatine is topographically intricate and scenically attractive, despite a general starkness that

Neogrammarian

2005-03-24T04:49:00.000-08:00

German Junggrammatiker, any of a group of German scholars that arose around 1875; their chief tenet concerning language change was that sound laws have no exceptions. This principle was very controversial because there seemed to be several irregularities in language change not accounted for by the sound laws, such as Grimm's law (q.v.), that had been discovered by that time. In 1875, however, the Danish

Trade Union

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

The

Rio De Janeiro Botanical Garden

2005-03-24T03:19:00.000-08:00

Portuguese Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro one of the great tropical botanical gardens and arboretums of the world. It was founded in 1808 by John, prince regent of the United Kingdom of Brazil and Portugal (later King John VI), for introducing and acclimatizing economically beneficial plants brought from other tropical regions of the world. The garden, located on a 350-acre (141-hectare) site below high peaks, has a collection

Girdle Tie

2005-03-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

Also called blood of Isis in Egyptian religion, protective amulet formed like a knot and made of gold, carnelian, or red glazed ware. Most samples of the girdle tie have been found tied around the necks of mummies; the amulets were intended to protect the dead from all that was harmful in the afterlife.

Dmitry, False

2005-03-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

After Fyodor I (reigned 1584–98), the last tsar of the Rurik dynasty, died and his brother-in-law Boris Godunov succeeded him, the first False Dmitry appeared and

Madagascar, Relief

2005-03-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Situated between 2,500 and 4,500 feet (800 and 1,400 metres) above sea level, the plateau has been uplifted and worn down several times and is tilted to the west. Three massifs are more than 8,500 feet high. The Tsaratanana region in the

Boie, Heinrich Christian

2005-03-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

After studying theology and law at the University of Jena, with Christian W. von Dohm, Boie founded the literary journal Deutsches Museum (1776; in 1789 renamed Neues Deutsches Museum). In 1776 he began a career in government that was concurrent with his literary activities.

Process Philosophy

2005-03-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

A 20th-century school of Western philosophy that emphasizes the elements of becoming, change, and novelty in experienced reality; it opposes the traditional Western philosophical stress on being, permanence, and uniformity. Reality—including both the natural world and the human sphere—is essentially historical in this view, emerging from (and bearing) a past and

Coín

2005-03-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

City, Málaga province, in the autonomous community (region) of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is situated near the beach resort region of Costa del Sol. The site was first settled by the Turdetanos, an Iberian tribe, and was later occupied by the Romans, who established the town of Lacibis. In 713 the Arabs took the town, calling it Cohine (Pleasant Paradise), the basis of its present

Awe, Loch

2005-03-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

Longest lake in Scotland, measuring 24 miles (39 km) from northeast to southwest, situated in Argyll and Bute council area, historic county of Argyllshire, at 117 feet (36 metres) above sea level. At the lake's northern end the scenery is rugged and grand, dominated by Ben Cruachan, with an elevation of 3,695 feet (1,126 metres), but at the southern end it is much softer. The loch's shores have been the

Macaronic

2005-03-18T04:14:00.000-08:00

Originally, comic Latin verse form characterized by the introduction of vernacular words with appropriate but absurd Latin endings: later variants apply the same technique to modern languages. The form was first written by Tisi degli Odassi in the late 15th century and popularized by Teofilo Folengo, a dissolute Benedictine monk who applied Latin rules of form

Sisaket

2005-03-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Si Sa Ket, or Srisaket, town, eastern Thailand. Sisaket lies on the railway between Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani. The surrounding area is one of Thailand's poorest regions; rice and tobacco are the main products. The region borders Cambodia and has a substantial Khmer-speaking population. Pop. (1986 est.) town, 21,577.

Pitch

2005-03-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

In Western music, standard pitches have long been used to facilitate tuning. Usually

Smith, Sir Harry (george Wakelyn), Baronet

2005-03-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

Smith began his career in the army as an ensign in 1805 and served with distinction in South America (1807) and, during the Napoleonic Wars, in Spain (1808–14). In the War of 1812 Smith was with the British forces that captured and burned Washington, D.C. He returned to

Reformed Church Of Hungary

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

Except for minor reverses, the Protestants

Moses Lake

2005-03-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

City, Grant county, central Washington, U.S., situated on the northeast shore of Moses Lake. Located on a traditional hunting and fishing ground, the town was settled in 1897 and was laid out in 1910 as Neppel; in 1938 it was renamed for the Columbia-Sinkiuse Indian leader Moses. Located in the Columbia River basin, the city serves as the trade centre of an irrigated farm region producing

Literature

2005-03-14T23:06:00.000-08:00

Except for minor reverses, the Protestants

Aethelfrith

2005-03-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

Armstrong, Henry Edward

2005-03-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

Armstrong studied at the Royal College of Chemistry, where he developed a method of determining organic impurities (sewage) in drinking water, which was used in the sanitary

Dbus-gtsang

2005-03-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

One of three regions into which the area of Central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. Dbus and Gtsang were provinces in the days of the early kings of central Tibet, c. 7th century. The area of Dbus encompassed the Skyid-chu valley system in which Lhasa is located, as well as the Yar-klungs and 'Phyong-rgyas valleys on the south side of the Brahmaputra

Amora

2005-03-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

(Hebrew and Aramaic: “interpreter,” or “reciter”), plural Amoraim, in ancient times, a Jewish scholar attached to one of several academies in Palestine (Tiberias, Sepphoris, Caesarea) or in Babylonia (Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita). The amoraim collaborated in writing the Gemara, collected interpretations of and commentaries on the Mishna (the authoritative code of Jewish oral laws) and on its critical marginal notes, called Tosefta (Addition).

Earle, John

2005-03-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

An outstanding book of “characters,” it avoids didacticism and displays genuine personalities, such as a “child,” a “Good old Man,” a “young raw Preacher,” and a “Grave Divine.” It is alive with its humour, perception, and epigrammatic

Caucasian Languages, North Caucasian languages

2005-03-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

P.K. Uslar, Etnografiia Kavkaza: IAzykoznanie, 6 vol. in 3 (1887–96), and a more recent volume, published from the author's manuscript, vol. 7 (1979), contains descriptive grammars of the individual North Caucasian languages. A. Tschikobava, “Die ibero-kaukasischen Gebirgssprachen und der heutige Stand ihrer Erforschung in Georgien,” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 9:109–161 (1959), a brief survey of the North Caucasian languages, includes an extensive bibliography. N. Trubetzkoy, “Nordkaukasische Wortgleichungen,” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, vol. 37 (1930), pp. 79–92, establishes sets of sound correspondences between the West and East Caucasian languages and deals with the history of their consonantism. Georges Dumézil, Études comparatives sur les langues caucasiennes du nord-ouest (morphologie) (1932), offers a comparative analysis of the grammatical structure of the Abkhazo-Adyghian languages. A.H. Kuipers, Phoneme and Morpheme in Kabardian (East Adyghe) (1960), analyzes in detail the phonemic structure of morphemes in Kabardian and includes a typological comparison with other linguistic systems. W.S. Allen, “Structure and System in the Abaza Verbal Complex,” Transactions of the Philological Society (1956), pp. 127–176, comprehensively analyzes the verb structure in Abaza.Two essays by Alf Sommerfelt in Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, “Études comparatives sur le caucasique du Nord-ouest,” 7:178–210 (1934), and “Études comparatives . . . Nord-est,” 9:115–143 (1938), compare the sound systems of the Nakh languages. Henricus Joannes Smeets, Studies in West Circassian Phonology and Morphology (1984); John Colarusso, The Northwest Caucasian Languages: A Phonological Survey (1988), and A Grammar of the Kabardian Languages (1992); and Martin Haspelmath, A Grammar of Lezgian (1993). T.E. Gudava, Konsonantizm andiiskikh iaazykov (1964), reconstructs the original consonant system of the Avar-Andi-Dido languages. B.K. Gigineishvili, Sravnitel'naia fonetika dagestanskikh iazykov (1977), presents a comparative phonetic study of Dagestanian languages. Two essays in N.I. Konrad et al. (eds.), IAzyki Azii i Afriki, vol. 3, IAzyki drevnei Perednei Azii (nesemitskie) (1979), are also of interest: E.A. Bokarev, “Dagestanskie iazyki,” pp. 161–172; and M.A. Kumakhov and A.K. Shagirov, “Abkhazo-adygskie iazyki,” pp. 133–160.

Business And Industry Review, Clothing.

2005-03-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

In 1995 the apparel industry continued its slump as consumers directed discretionary income toward the purchase of cars and home-related and electronic products. Both Martha Stewart (see BIOGRAPHIES), who was held responsible for the "Martha Stewartization" of America, and the aging of the baby-boom generation were cited as reasons for the shift. Also, women--who continued

Coimbra

2005-03-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

City, capital, and concelho (municipality), Coimbra district, north-central Portugal, on the northern bank of the Mondego River. A 4th-century Latin inscription identifies Coimbra with Aeminium, while Condeixa, 8 miles (13 km) southwest, was the ancient Conimbriga or Conimbrica. Aeminium was for more than a century a Moorish stronghold, but in 878 it was recaptured by Alfonso III

Ben Nevis

2005-03-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Highest mountain of the British Isles, in the Highland council area, Scotland. Its summit, reaching an elevation of 4,406 feet (1,343 metres), is a plateau of about 100 acres (40 hectares), with a slight slope to the south and a sheer face to the northeast. Snow lies in some parts all year, and permafrost conditions are almost reached. The mountain consists of a superstructure of volcanic rocks

Syracuse

2005-03-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

Syracuse was settled about 734 BC by Corinthians led by the aristocrat Archias, and the city soon dominated the coastal plain and hill country beyond. The original Greek settlers of the city formed an elite (gamoroi

Warning System, Air defense systems

2005-03-09T01:34:00.000-08:00

Radar and identification friend or foe (IFF) equipment constitute the forward elements of complex systems that have appeared throughout the world. Examples include the semiautomatic ground environment (SAGE), augmented by a mobile backup intercept control system called BUIC in the United States, NATO air defense ground environment (NADGE) in Europe, a similar

Salalah

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

Town, southern Oman, on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The town is located in the only part of the Arabian Peninsula touched by the Indian Ocean monsoon and thus is verdant during the summer. Salalah is the historic centre of Dhofar, famous in ancient times as a source of frankincense, and was described by Marco Polo in the 13th century as a prosperous city. Although it declined

Chiba

2005-03-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

City and capital of Chiba ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the Boso Peninsula about 20 miles (30 km) southeast of Tokyo and on the east coast of Tokyo Bay. It was a castle town controlled by the Chiba family in the 12th–15th century, and during the Tokugawa period (1603–1867) it served as a post-station town for several major roads. The town grew after the construction of a railway connecting

Balaklava, Battle Of

2005-03-08T04:06:00.000-08:00

Balaklava also spelled Balaclava (Oct. 25 [Oct. 13, Old Style], 1854), indecisive military engagement of the Crimean War, best known as the inspiration of the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson's “Charge of the Light Brigade.” In this battle, the Russians failed to capture Balaklava, the Black Sea supply port of the British, French, and Turkish forces in the southern Crimea; but the British lost control of their best supply

Mold

2005-03-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Mould, in manufacturing, a cavity or matrix in which a fluid or plastic substance is shaped into a desired finished product. A molten substance, such as metal, or a plastic substance is poured or forced into a mold and allowed to harden. Molds are made of a wide variety of materials, depending on the application; sand is frequently used for metal casting, hardened steel for molds

U Thong Style

2005-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

One of the canonical styles for Buddha icons developed in Thailand (Siam) in the southern capital of Ayutthaya, beginning in the 14th century. To retain the greatest spiritual potency, Buddha icons in Thai temples had to resemble as closely as possible an original prototype that tradition erroneously believed had been made during the lifetime of the Buddha. Of the

Sabzevari, 'abd Al-a'la Al-musawi Al-

2005-03-05T04:57:00.000-08:00

After finishing his basic education in Iran, Sabzevari moved to Al-Najaf to pursue advanced studies in philosophy and religious law, studying under the prominent mujtahid Muhammad

Dieting

2005-03-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Regulating one's food intake for the purpose of improving one's physical condition, especially for the purpose of reducing obesity, or what is conceived to be excess body fat. Dieting plans are based on the reduction of any of the macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) that constitute the major portions of food that a person eats (other than water) and that

Crantor

2005-03-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

Greek academic philosopher whose work On Grief created a new literary genre, the consolation, which was offered on the occasion of a misfortune such as death. One of Crantor's consolatory arguments, reminiscent of Plato's Phaedo or Aristotle's Eudemus, was that life is actually punishment; death, the release of the soul. He wrote

Aging

2005-03-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

Aging has many facets. Hence there are a number of theories, each of which many explain one or more aspects of aging; there is, however, no single theory that explains all of the phenomena of aging.

Pyroxenite

2005-03-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

Dark-coloured, intrusive igneous rock that consists chiefly of pyroxene. Pyroxenites are not abundant; they occur in discrete inclusions, in layered sills (tabular bodies inserted between other rocks) and lopoliths (laccoliths with basin-shaped bases), in branching veins, in narrow dikes (tabular bodies injected in fissures), and at the edges of silica-poor plutons

Procrustes

2005-03-02T02:26:00.000-08:00

Also called Polypemon, Damastes, or Procoptas, in Greek legend, a robber dwelling somewhere in Attica—in some versions, in the neighbourhood of Eleusis. His father was said to be Poseidon. Procrustes had an iron bed (or, according to some accounts, two beds) on which he compelled his victims to lie. Here, if a victim was shorter than the bed, he stretched him by hammering or racking the body to fit. Alternatively, if the victim

Brieux, Eugène

2005-03-02T01:23:00.000-08:00

French dramatist, one of the leading exponents of the realist drama, whose somewhat didactic works attacked the social evils of his day. Brieux's works formed part of the repertory of the famed Théâtre-Libre of André Antoine, which had a far-reaching effect on the spread of the new naturalistic style. Playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw described

Sérusier, (louis-)paul(-henri)

2005-03-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

Originally a student of philosophy, Sérusier decided to become an artist and attended the Académie Julian (1886) in his native Paris. He painted with Paul Gauguin in Brittany at Pont-Aven (1888) and at Le Pouldu (1889–90), and in the 1890s he was associated with the Nabis—many of whom he had known at the Académie

Utica

2005-03-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1798) of Oneida county, central New York, U.S., on the Mohawk River and New York State Canal System, 45 miles (72 km) east of Syracuse. The first settlers were Dutch and Palatinate Germans, and in 1758 the British built Old Fort Schuyler, near the site of an ancient Oneida Indian council stone. Destroyed by the Indian-Tory raid in 1776, the early village was rebuilt and connected by stagecoach

Deflation

2005-03-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

In geology, erosion of loose material from flat areas of dry, uncemented sediments such as those occurring in deserts, dry lake beds, floodplains, and glacial outwash plains. Clay and silt-sized particles are picked up by turbulent eddies in wind and may be carried for hundreds of kilometres; they later settle to form loess deposits. Local areas subjected to deflation

Anderson, Leroy

2005-02-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

The son of Swedish immigrants, Anderson studied composition under Walter Piston and Georges Enesco at Harvard University (B.A., 1929; M.A., 1930), where

O'flaherty, Liam

2005-02-28T02:52:00.000-08:00

O'Flaherty abandoned his training

Dana, Richard Henry

2005-02-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

Dana withdrew from Harvard College when measles weakened his eyesight, and he shipped to California as a sailor in August 1834 to regain his health. After voyaging among California's ports and gathering hides ashore, he rounded Cape Horn, returned

Murchison River

2005-02-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Ephemeral river in Western Australia, rising north of Meekatharra on Peak Hill in the Robinson Ranges and fed by its tributaries, the Sandford and Roderick. It flows sporadically (chiefly in winter) west, south, and again west to enter the Indian Ocean at Kalbarri, north of Geraldton, after a course of 440 miles (710 km). The explorer George Grey reached the river in 1839 on a forced march

Awe, Loch

2005-02-26T06:17:00.000-08:00

Aristarchus Of Samothrace

2005-02-25T05:04:00.000-08:00

Aristarchus settled in Alexandria, where he was a pupil of Aristophanes of Byzantium, and, c. 153 BC, became chief librarian there. Later he withdrew to Cyprus. He founded a school of philologists, called after him Aristarcheans, which long flourished in Alexandria and afterward at Rome. Cicero

Qina

2005-02-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qena, town and capital of Qina muhafazah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qift), 14 miles south, whose trade with Arabia, India, and China it eventually acquired. The shift resulted from the use of a more northerly route across

Caccini, Giulio

2005-02-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Also called Giulio Romano singer and composer whose songs greatly helped to establish and disseminate the new monodic music introduced in Italy about 1600. This is music in which an expressive melody is accompanied by evocative chords, as opposed to the traditional polyphonic style with its complex interweaving of several melodic

Arányi, Jelly D'

2005-02-24T18:10:00.000-08:00

The grandniece of the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim, she made her debut

Pyrogallol

2005-02-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

Pyrogallol was first obtained in 1786 from gallic acid, obtainable from galls and barks of various trees. It is converted to pyrogallol by heating with water under pressure. Pyrogallol is the oldest photographic developer, its rapid deposition

Babahoyo

2005-02-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

City, west central Ecuador, on the southern shore of the Río Babahoyo, a major branch of the Río Guayas. A processing and trade centre for the surrounding agricultural region, the city handles rice, sugarcane, fruits, balsa wood, and tagua nuts (vegetable ivory). Rice and sugar are milled, and there is also a government-owned distillery making alcohol, ether, and perfume. A

Karun River

2005-02-22T16:38:00.000-08:00

Persian Rud-e Karun , ancient Ulai , or Eulaeus river in southwestern Iran, a tributary of the Shatt al-Arab, which it joins at Khorramshahr. It rises in the Bakhtiari Mountains west of Esfahan and follows a tortuous course trending basically southwest. The Karun's total length is 515 miles (829 km), though the direct distance from its source to the junction with the Shatt al-Arab is only 180 miles (290 km). Its catchment basin up to Ahvaz has an

Actinolite

2005-02-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

An amphibole mineral in the tremolite-actinolite-ferrotremolite series of calcium, magnesium, and iron silicates. The minerals in this series are abundant in regionally metamorphosed rocks, such as schists. Tremolite may weather to talc, and both tremolite and actinolite may alter to chlorite or carbonates. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties,

Asparagus

2005-02-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

Asparagus may be erect or climbing, and most of the species are more

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

2005-02-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher. His Lyrical Ballads, written with William Wordsworth, heralded the English Romantic movement, and his Biographia Literaria (1817) is the most significant work of general literary criticism produced in the English Romantic period.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke

2005-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

As a boy Akutagawa was sickly and hypersensitive, but he excelled at school and was a voracious reader. He began his literary career while attending Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo), where he studied English literature from

Schleiermacher, Friedrich (ernst Daniel)

2005-02-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

German theologian, preacher, and classical philologist, generally recognized as the founder of modern Protestant theology. His major work, Der christliche Glaube (1821–22; 2nd ed. 1831; The Christian Faith), is a systematic interpretation of Christian dogmatics.

Ikire

2005-02-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. The town lies along the road from Ibadan to Ile-Ife. A collecting point for local cash crops (cocoa and palm oil and kernels), it also serves as a trade centre for yams, maize (corn), cassava, palm produce, cotton, and kola nuts. Cotton weaving is a traditional industry of its Yoruba inhabitants. Pop. (1991 est.) 111,500.

Regina

2005-02-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

Capital and largest city of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Wascana Creek, in the south-central part of the province. It originated as a hunters' camp and was known as Pile O'Bones for the heaps of bones left there after skinning and cutting buffalo. Captain John Palliser, the explorer, visited the site in 1857 and called it Wascana (derived from its Cree Indian name, Oskana); with the

Yhwh

2005-02-17T16:24:00.000-08:00

In Hebrew, the name of God as revealed to Moses. Because of its four letters, it is also known as the Tetragrammaton. See Yahweh.

Alabama

2005-02-17T01:37:00.000-08:00

Constituent state of the United States of America. Admitted as the 22nd state in 1819, Alabama comprises 51,705 square miles (133,915 square kilometres) forming a roughly rectangular shape, elongated in a north–south direction. Tennessee is the bordering state to the north, Georgia to the east, and Mississippi to the west. The Florida panhandle blocks Alabama's access to the Gulf of Mexico

Kerouac, Jack

2005-02-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Of French-Canadian descent, Kerouac learned English as a second language as a schoolboy. Discharged from

Lanchester, Frederick William

2005-02-16T05:59:00.000-08:00

In 1891, after attending Hartley University College (now the University of Southampton) and the National School of Science, Lanchester went to work for a gas-engine works in Birmingham. During his employment at the firm he improved its products

Water Hyacinth

2005-02-15T22:44:00.000-08:00

Any aquatic plant of the genus Eichhornia of the pickerelweed family (Pontederiaceae), consisting of about five species, native primarily to tropical America. Some species float in shallow water; others are rooted in muddy stream banks and lakeshores. All have slender rootstocks, feathery roots, rosettes of stalked leaves, and few to many flowers

Cylinder

2005-02-15T22:32:00.000-08:00

In mechanical engineering, chamber of an engine in which a piston moves. See piston and cylinder.

Cabbage

2005-02-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

Vegetable and fodder plant the various forms of which are said to have been developed by long cultivation from the wild, or sea, cabbage (Brassica oleracea) found near the seacoast in various parts of England and continental Europe. The common horticultural forms of Brassica oleracea may be classified according to the plant parts used for food and the structure

Lat, Al-

2005-02-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

North Arabian goddess of pre-Islamic times to whom a stone cube at at-Ta'if (near Mecca) was held sacred as part of her cult. Two other North Arabian goddesses, Manat (Fate) and al-'Uzza (Strong), were associated with al-Lat in the Qur'an (Islamic sacred scriptures). The Prophet Muhammad once recognized these three as goddesses, but a new revelation led him to abrogate the approving verses

Keyboard Instrument, The short octave

2005-02-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Even after the present arrangement of five raised keys and seven natural keys per octave had become standard in the 15th century, two exceptions existed. The first of these—the “short octave”—concerned only the lowest octave at the bass end of the keyboard. In the short octave, not all keys actually sounded notes of the expected pitch; their respective strings were tuned

Monkey

2005-02-13T01:32:00.000-08:00

Monkeys are arranged into two main groups: Old World and New World. Old World monkeys all belong to one family, Cercopithecidae, which is related to apes and humans, and together they are classified as catarrhines (meaning “downward-nosed” in Latin). The New World monkeys are the platyrrhines (“flat-nosed”), a group comprising five families. As their taxonomic names suggest,

Mercedes

2005-02-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

Also called Villa Mercedes city of west-central Argentina, located on the Quinto River of east-central San Luis provincia, in a semiarid transition area between the Pampa (east) and the San Luis Mountains (northwest). It was founded in 1856 as Fuerte Constitucional, and the surrounding lands were distributed to veteran army officers who guarded the frontier. In 1861 the settlement was renamed Villa Mercedes

Zuni

2005-02-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Zuñi, North American Indian pueblo in west-central New Mexico, on the Arizona border (see Pueblo Indians). The Zuni speak a language related to Penutian. Their origin and early history are unknown; their mythology pictures their ancestors as emerging from underground and wandering to their present location. When they were first encountered by whites, the Spaniards in

Capsian Industry

2005-02-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

A Mesolithic (8000 BC–2700 BC) cultural complex prominent in the inland areas of North Africa. Its most characteristic sites are in the area of the great salt lakes of what is now southern Tunisia, the type site being Jabal al-Maqta', near Qafsah (Capsa, French Gafsa). Although the tool kit of the Capsian is a classic example of the industries of the late Würm Glacial Period, and, while it is apparently

Yüeh-yang

2005-02-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

It was a fortified place called

Scherzo

2005-02-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Plural Scherzos, or Scherzi, in music, frequently the third movement of a symphony, sonata, or string quartet; also, in the Baroque era (c. 1600–c. 1750), a light vocal or instrumental piece (e.g., the Scherzi musicali of Claudio Monteverdi, 1607), and, in the 19th century, an independent orchestral composition. In symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets of the 19th century, the scherzo replaced the 18th-century minuet. Unlike the

Burgos

2005-02-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Burgos province, in the Castile-León comunidad autónoma (“autonomous community”), northern Spain. It is located on the lower slopes of a castle-crowned hill overlooking the Arlanzón River, about 2,600 feet (800 m) above sea level. Founded in 884 as an eastern outpost of the Asturian kingdom by the Castilian count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, it became the capital of the

Griffey, Ken, Jr.

2005-02-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

In 1987 Griffey was the first player selected by the major league baseball draft and was signed by the American League Seattle Mariners. He made his major league debut in 1989. His father, outfielder

Hoop

2005-02-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

Circular toy adaptable to many games, children's and adults', probably the most ubiquitous of the world's toys, after the ball. The ancient Greeks advocated hoop rolling as a beneficial exercise for those not very strong. It was also used as a toy by both Greek and Roman children, as graphic representations indicate. Most of these ancient hoops were of metal. Most later

Ableman V. Booth

2005-02-09T00:03:00.000-08:00

Sherman Booth was an abolitionist newspaper editor in Wisconsin who had been sentenced to jail by a federal court for assisting a runaway slave—a clear violation of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, which required

Geneva

2005-02-08T20:27:00.000-08:00

Town, Adams county, eastern Indiana, U.S., on the Wabash River, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Muncie. Platted in 1853, it was called Buffalo until presumably renamed for the Swiss city. A rural community with many Old Order Amish families, it lies in the “Limberlost Country,” a timber-swampland made famous by the novelist Gene Stratton Porter in such novels as Freckles (1904) and A Girl of the

Ear Disease, Osteoma of the bony ear canal

2005-02-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

Osteoma of the bony ear canal is a bony knob that grows close to the tympanic membrane, especially in those who swim a great deal in cold water. It is not dangerous and does not need to be removed unless the bony overgrowth becomes large enough to block the ear canal.

Pyrenees

2005-02-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

Spanish Pirineos , French Pyrénées , Catalan Pireneus mountain chain of southwestern Europe that consists of flat-topped massifs and folded linear ranges. It stretches from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea on the east to the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The Pyrenees form a high wall between France and Spain that has played a significant role in the history of both countries and of Europe as a whole.

Thomas, Gwyn

2005-02-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Thomas was educated at Oxford and the University of Madrid and began writing seriously in the 1930s. His first novel, The Dark Philosophers (1946), built on the conversations of four unemployed Welsh miners, reminded critics