SmoothSquare

Epistemology, A priori versus a posteriori knowledge

2005-04-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

A sharp distinction has been drawn since at least the 17th century between two types of knowledge: a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge. The distinction plays an especially important role in the philosophies of David Hume (1711–76) and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804). It is also found in many contemporary, empirically oriented theories of knowledge, which typically hold that all knowledge

Mursilis I

2005-04-02T20:45:00.000-08:00

Mursilis was the adopted heir of his grandfather, Hattusilis I, whom he succeeded on the throne. He first continued his predecessor's campaigns in northern Syria, destroying Aleppo and delivering the final blow to Mari. He then turned eastward, and by raiding Babylon he put an end to the Amorite dynasty there.

Arve River

2005-04-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

River in eastern France and Switzerland, rising in the Savoy Alps and flowing north into the Rhône River below Geneva. Over its 62-mi (100-km) course, the river passes by some of the finest and most varied Alpine scenery. Its upper section collects the drainage of the northwest face of the Massif du Mont Blanc and is a source of hydroelectric power. Below Bonneville, in the Faucigny

Breisach

2005-03-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

In full Breisach Am Rhein, city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine opposite Neuf-Brisach, Fr. As ancient Brisiacum, it was a stronghold of the Celtic Sequani. Captured in the time of Julius Caesar, it became known as Mons Brisiacus. Fortified by the emperor Valentinian in 369, it remained one of the chief Rhine bulwarks of medieval Germany and gave its

Mandalay

2005-03-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

Mandalay was built mainly in 1857–59 by King Mindon to replace Amarapura as his capital. It was the last capital of the Myanmar kingdom and

Yamethin

2005-03-26T02:33:00.000-08:00

Town, central-northern Myanmar (Burma), occupying a high point on the central plain. For centuries it was an important junction on the caravan trade route between the Shan region to the east and Myingyan, 90 miles (145 km) northwest, on the Irrawaddy River. Modern Yamethin, a municipality since 1888, has railway workshops and is irrigated by the Kyeni Tank (reservoir), built in the 11th

Jackal

2005-03-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Any of several species of wolflike carnivores of the dog genus Canis, family Canidae, sharing with the hyena an exaggerated reputation for cowardice. Three species are usually recognized: the golden, or Asiatic, jackal (C. aureus), found from eastern Europe and northeast Africa to Southeast Asia, and the black-backed (C. mesomelas) and side-striped (C.

Southern Connecticut State University

2005-03-23T02:48:00.000-08:00

Public, coeducational institution of higher education in New Haven, Conn., U.S. It is one of four institutions in the Connecticut State University system; the others are located in New Britain (Central Connecticut State), Willimantic (Eastern Connecticut State), and Danbury (Western Connecticut State). Southern Connecticut State offers bachelor's and master's degrees

Teshio-sammyaku

2005-03-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

Also called Teshio-sanchi (Japanese: Teshio Range, or Teshio Mountain Country) range, northwestern Hokkaido, Japan, extending southward for nearly 125 mi (200 km) from Soya-misaki (Cape Soya), across the transverse gorge of the Ishikari-gawa (Ishikari River), to the Yubari-sammyaku. The mountains consist of Cretaceous formations in the east and coal-bearing Tertiary formations in the west, both of which are zonally arranged from north to south. The interior

Babcock, Horace Welcome

2005-03-21T11:08:00.000-08:00

Horace Babcock attended the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of California. He worked at the Massachusetts

Nageire

2005-03-19T17:24:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “thrown in”), in Japanese floral art, the style of arranging that stresses fresh and spontaneous designs adhering only loosely to the classical principles of triangular structure and colour harmony. A single long branch with shorter branches and flowers at the base arranged in a tall upright vase are characteristic of the nageire style. Nageire was originally

Mind Reading

2005-03-19T14:25:00.000-08:00

A magician's trick involving various silent or verbal signals that cue a conjurer to answer a question as though with second sight. Philip Breslaw, the first magician of note to feature mind reading, played in 1781 at the Haymarket Theatre in London to appreciative audiences. In 1784 the Pinettis, a husband-and-wife team, advertised Mrs. Pinetti as able to guess the thoughts of

Silk

2005-03-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

Animal fibre produced by certain insects as building material for cocoons and webs. In commercial use it is almost entirely limited to filament from cocoons produced by the caterpillars of several moth species belonging to the genus Bombyx and commonly called silkworms.

Davis, Henry Winter

2005-03-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

Intent

Black Humour

2005-03-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Also called Black Comedy, writing that juxtaposes morbid or ghastly elements with comical ones. Though in 1940 the French Surrealist André Breton published Anthologie de l'humour noir (“Anthology of Black Humour,” frequently enlarged and reprinted), the term did not come into common use until the 1960s. Then it was applied to the works of the novelists Nathanael West, Vladimir Nabokov, and Joseph Heller.

Cinnabar

2005-03-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

Mercury sulfide (HgS), the chief ore mineral of mercury. It is commonly encountered with pyrite, marcasite, and stibnite in veins near recent volcanic rocks and in hot-springs deposits. The most important deposit is at Almadén, Spain, where it has been mined for 2,000 years. Other deposits are in Huancavelica, Peru; Iudrio, Italy; and the Coast Ranges of California, U.S. Metacinnabar,

Henbane

2005-03-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

(Hyoscyamus niger), any plant of the family Solanaceae (q.v.), indigenous to Great Britain and found growing wild in waste places and on rubbish heaps. It also occurs in central and southern Europe and in western Asia extending to India and Siberia, and has long been naturalized in the United States. There are two forms of the plant, an annual and a biennial. The annual grows

Elijah

2005-03-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Elias, or Elia, Hebrew Eliyyahu Hebrew prophet who ranks with Moses in saving the religion of Yahweh from being corrupted by the nature worship of Baal. Elijah's name means “Yahweh is my God” and is spelled Elias in some versions of the Bible. The story of his prophetic career in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Kings Ahab and Ahaziah is told in 1 Kings 17–19 and 2 Kings 1–2 in the Old Testament.

Alekseyev, Mikhail Vasilyevich

2005-03-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

The son of a private soldier, Alekseyev entered the Russian Army in 1876 and was graduated in 1890 from

Valdivia, Pedro De

2005-03-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

Valdivia served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders before being sent to South America in 1534. During the Peruvian civil war (1538), he fought with Francisco Pizarro against Diego de Almagro. For the Chilean

Heirloom

2005-03-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

An item of personal property that by immemorial usage is regarded as annexed by inheritance to a family estate. The owner of such an heirloom may dispose of it during his lifetime, but he cannot bequeath it by will away from the estate. If he dies intestate (without a will), the object goes to his heir at law; otherwise it goes to whoever takes the estate under his will. Such

Gong

2005-03-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

A circular metal plate-like percussion instrument having a turned-down rim. It is struck in the centre with a felt- or leather-covered beater, producing a sound of either definite or indefinite pitch. Its vibrations issue from the centre, in contrast to bells, which vibrate principally at the rim.

Nova, João Da

2005-03-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

Commanding a fleet of four ships, Nova left Portugal on a voyage to India in 1501. His crews included Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America was later named. En route he discovered Ascension Island.

China, Invasion of the Sung

2005-03-06T20:07:00.000-08:00

During the next decades there was an uneasy coexistence between the Mongols in northern China and the Sung state in the south. The Mongols resumed their advance in 1250 under the grand khan Möngke and his brother Kublai Khan—grandsons of Genghis Khan. Their armies outflanked the main Sung defenses on the Yangtze River and penetrated deeply into southwestern China,

Amitabha

2005-03-05T01:04:00.000-08:00

Japanese Amida , Chinese O-mi-t'o in Buddhism, the great saviour deity worshiped principally by members of the Pure Land sect in Japan. As related in the Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra (the fundamental scripture of the Pure Land sects), many ages ago a monk named Dharmakara made a number of vows, the 18th of which promised that, on his attaining buddhahood, all who believed in him and who called upon his name would be born

Wellesley

2005-03-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

Town (township), Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., just west of Boston. Originally part of Dedham, it became the Western Precinct of Needham when that town was set off in 1711. Incorporated as a separate town in 1881, it was named for the estate of Samuel Welles, who had settled the site in 1763. Although some manufacturing appeared in the late 19th century, the town's character and

Xerxes I

2005-03-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

The basic work is still A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (1948, reissued 1985), a complex work, but one that contains the essentials. Charles Hignett, Xerxes' Invasion of Greece (1963), deals only with the relationships between Xerxes and Greece. Peter Green, Xerxes at Salamis (1970), discusses the Greco-Persian wars.

Itapetininga

2005-02-28T05:05:00.000-08:00

City, in the highlands of east-central São Paulo estado (“state”), Brazil. It lies at 2,200 feet (670 m) above sea level, near the Itapetininga River. Formerly called Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Itapetininga, it was given town status in 1770 and was made the seat of a municipality in 1771. Agriculture and industry both contribute to Itapetininga's economy. The principal crops in the region are

Cereal Farming, Weeds

2005-02-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

Weeds present difficulties, as they compete with cereal crops for water, light, and mineral nutrients. The infestation of annual seeds planted in a field may cause many weeds in that field for successive years. Charlock or wild mustard, wild oats, crouch grass, and other common weeds are disseminated by wind, water, and birds.

Dach, Simon

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

After earning his living for many years as a private

Sangli

2005-02-25T00:19:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Maharashtra state, western India. It lies along the Krishna River, east of Kolhapur on the Pune–Bangalore railway. The town is the former capital (1761–1947) of Sangli state. Its market in oilseeds and turmeric is one of the most important in India. Sangli contains a Ganapati temple that attracts many pilgrims. The town's industries include cotton-textile and oil mills, copper

Wrangel, Pyotr Nikolayevich, Baron

2005-02-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

A member of an old German baronial family, he served in the Russian imperial guards and became commander of a Cossack division during World War I. He continued to serve in the army after the February

Infection, Common worm infections

2005-02-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

The worm Ascaris lumbricoides causes one of the most prevalent infections in the world. It lives in the soil and its eggs are ingested with contaminated food. The eggs hatch in the human intestine and the worms then travel through the bloodstream to the liver, heart, and lungs. They can cause pneumonia, perforations of the intestine, or blockage of the bile ducts, but

Radishchev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

2005-02-21T00:28:00.000-08:00

Radishchev, a nobleman, was educated in Moscow (1757–62), at the St. Petersburg Corps of Pages (1763–66), and at Leipzig, where he studied law (1766–71). His career as a civil servant brought him into contact with people from all social strata. Under the influence

Beardfish

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

Any of the five species of fishes in the genus Polymixia constituting the family Polymixiidae (order Beryciformes). Beardfishes are restricted primarily to deep-sea marine habitats in tropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. They generally are found at depths from about 200 to 600 metres (650 to 2,000 feet). The term beardfish comes from the beardlike appearance

Celesta

2005-02-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Also spelled celeste, orchestral percussion instrument resembling a small upright piano, patented by a Parisian, Auguste Mustel, in 1886. It consists of a series of small metal bars (and hence is a metallophone) with a keyboard and a simplified piano action in which small felt hammers strike the bars. Each bar is resonated by a wooden box or similar chamber tuned to reinforce the fundamental

Gumplowicz, Ludwig

2005-02-18T02:09:00.000-08:00

The son of Jewish parents, Gumplowicz

Morava River

2005-02-17T13:59:00.000-08:00

German March, tributary of the Danube rising in eastern Czech Republic; in its lower course, the river divides the Czech Republic from Slovakia and then Slovakia from Austria. It gives its name to Moravia, an ancient region that covers most of the river's drainage basin, which is 15,000 square miles (38,900 square km) in area. Its western tributaries drain from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands; the

National Socialism

2005-02-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

German Nationalsozialismus , also called Nazism or Naziism totalitarian movement led by Adolf Hitler as head of the Nazi Party in Germany. In its intense nationalism, mass appeal, and dictatorial rule, National Socialism shared many elements with Italian fascism. However, Nazism was far more extreme both in its ideas and in its practice. In almost every respect it was an anti-intellectual and atheoretical movement, emphasizing

Utrera

2005-02-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

The site has been occupied since prehistoric times and was known as Utricula during the Roman period. The city, an episcopal see before domination

Orange

2005-02-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

County, eastern Vermont, U.S., bounded to the east by New Hampshire; the Connecticut River constitutes the border. It consists of a piedmont region that includes Butterfield, Knox, and Braintree mountains. The county is drained by the Ompompanoosuc, White, Waits, and Wells rivers; Lakes Morey and Fairlee are among the larger lakes. Recreational areas include Allis and

A-kuei

2005-02-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

The scion of a noble family, A-kuei directed Chinese military expeditions that quelled uprisings in the western provinces of Szechwan and Kansu. He also conquered Ili and Chinese Turkistan, areas on China's northwestern frontier that are today part of the Uighur Autonomous

Stefánsson, Davíd

2005-02-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

Stefánsson came of a cultured yeoman family and was brought up with a love for his homeland, its literature, and its folklore. He frequently journeyed abroad but lived most of his life in the town of Akureyri, where he was a librarian (1925–52). He wrote a powerful

Salta

2005-02-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

Provincia, northwestern Argentina, with an area of 59,759 square miles (154,775 square km). It is bounded on the southwest by Chile, on the north by Bolivia, and on the northeast by Paraguay. In the southwestern part of the province, high Andean cordilleras, separated by broad 11,500-foot- (3,500-metre-) high salt flats (the Atacama Plateau), descend from the Andean Cordillera Oriental through quebradas

Dach, Simon

2005-02-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

After earning his living for many years as a private

Botanical Garden

2005-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

German Botanischer Garten, botanical garden founded in 1914 by the German botanist Karl von Goebel in Munich. The garden's vast array of greenhouses, completed in 1958, includes 17 for display and 8 for service functions. The palm house is particularly notable. Other significant greenhouse collections are composed of alpine plants, insectivorous plants, cacti, African succulents, Crassula, and Mesembryanthemeae.

Issa

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

A branch of the Somali (q.v.) people living in the Republic of Djibouti (formerly the French Territory of the Afars and Issas) on the east coast of Africa.

Bradbury, Ray

2005-02-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

Bradbury published his first story in 1940 and was soon contributing widely to magazines. His first book of short stories, Dark Carnival (1947), was followed by The Martian

Harbin

2005-02-06T02:02:00.000-08:00

Chinese (Wade–Giles romanization) Ha-erh-pin, Pinyin Haerbin, second largest city of Northeast China and capital of Heilungkiang Province (sheng), on the Sungari River. The city owes its origin to the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway by the Russians at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Before 1896 it was a small fishing village. Thereafter it became the construction centre for the railway, which by 1904 linked

Vischer, Friedrich Theodor Von

2005-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

Vischer's theories of aesthetics, based on ideas of G.W.F. Hegel, began to develop while he was teaching at the University of Tübingen, where he had studied. He became a professor at Tübingen in

Alkaloid

2005-02-04T16:49:00.000-08:00

Alkaloids are found primarily in plants and are especially common in certain families of flowering plants. More

Nivelle, Robert-georges

2005-02-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

Nivelle graduated from the École Polytechnique in 1878, served in Indochina, Algeria, and China as an artillery officer, and was made a general of brigade in October 1914 after World War

Vacuum Technology

2005-02-01T16:44:00.000-08:00

This pump is mainly used on equipment for the study of clean surfaces and in radio-frequency sputtering. Capacities are available up to 190,000 cu ft per minute with an operating pressure range of 10-2 to less than 10-9 torr when water-cooled baffles are used and less than 10-11 torr when refrigerated baffles are employed. The pumping speed for a vapour pump remains constant from about

'atasi, Hashim Al-

2005-02-01T00:06:00.000-08:00

An official in the Ottoman administration of Syria in his early life, 'Atasi became a member of the Syrian Congress in 1919. The next year the Congress proclaimed Greater Syria an independent constitutional monarchy. As one of the nationalist leaders opposing the French occupation and mandate in

Isabella I

2005-01-31T15:05:00.000-08:00

Byname Isabella the Catholic , Spanish Isabel la Católica queen of Castile (1474–1504) and of Aragon (1479–1504), ruling the two kingdoms jointly from 1479 with her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile). Their rule effected the permanent union of Spain and the beginning of an overseas empire in the New World, led by Christopher Columbus under Isabella's

Mercenary

2005-01-30T23:21:00.000-08:00

Employment of mercenaries could be politically dangerous

Meuse-argonne, Battles Of The

2005-01-28T16:29:00.000-08:00

Following the German retreat from the Marne River in July, General Ferdinand Foch and the Allied high command designed a series of convergent and practically simultaneous offensives against the shaken German armies. One was a joint operation in the Meuse valley toward the Mézière and

Rabbit Hair

2005-01-28T10:20:00.000-08:00

The fibre of the Angora rabbit (so named for the resemblance of its pelt to that of the Angora goat) is produced mainly in France and England. A silky, delicate white fibre, it is prized

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Medieval allegory

2005-01-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

Erich Auerbach, Dante als Dichter der irdischen Welt (1929; Eng. trans., Dante: Poet of the Secular World, 1961); M.W. Bloomfield, “Symbolism in Medieval Literature,” Modern Philology, 56:73–81 (1958), and Piers Plowman As a Fourteenth-Century Apocalypse (1962); Edgar de Bruyne, Études d'esthétique médiévale, 3 vol. (1946); M.D. Chenu, La Théologie au douzième siècle (1957; Eng. trans. of nine selected essays, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century, 1968); E.R. Curtius, Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (1948; Eng. trans., European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, 1953); Raymond Klibansky, The Continuity of the Platonic Tradition During the Middle Ages (1939); C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964); Joseph A. Mazzeo, Medieval Cultural Tradition in Dante's Comedy (1960); D.W. Robertson and B.F. Huppe, Piers Plowman and Scriptural Tradition (1951); Charles Singleton, Dante Studies, vol. 1, Commedia (1954).

Discoverer

2005-01-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Any of a series of unmanned experimental satellites launched by the United States Air Force. Although the Discoverer satellites had several apparent applications—such as testing orbital maneuvering and reentry techniques—they often are regarded as a forerunner of the military reconnaissance satellite. Discoverer 1 (launched Feb. 28, 1959) was equipped with a camera

La Pampa

2005-01-25T18:48:00.000-08:00

Provincia, central Argentina, immediately west of Buenos Aires provincia and geographically straddling drier sections of the Pampa (northeast) and semiarid sections of the Patagonian Desert (southwest). Its western and southern parts are comprised of low-lying tablelands (with a broad depression in the central west) occasionally broken by hillocks, saline marshes

Karadjordjevic Dynasty

2005-01-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

The first prince, Alexander (son of Karadjordje), reigned from 1842 to 1858. Thereafter, for

Wu Ching

2005-01-23T19:44:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Wu Jing (Chinese: “Five Classics”), five ancient Chinese books whose prestige is so great that in the fourfold classification of Chinese writings the ching (“classics”) are placed before shih (“history”), tzu (“philosophy”), and chi (“literature”). For 2,000 years these classics, all associated in some way with the name of the ancient sage Confucius (551–479 BC), were invoked as norms for Chinese society, law,

Arundel, Philip Howard, 1st (or 13th) Earl Of, Earl Of Surrey

2005-01-22T16:52:00.000-08:00

Philip was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk, executed for high treason in 1572, and of Lady Mary, daughter and heiress of Henry Fitzalan, 12th earl of Arundel. On the death of his maternal grandfather, the 12th earl, in February

Ash

2005-01-21T10:54:00.000-08:00

Any tree of the genus Fraxinus of the olive family (Oleaceae). The genus includes about 70 species of trees and shrubs, mostly distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, some of which are valuable for their timber and beauty. A few species extend into the tropical forests of Mexico and Java. The leaves of ash trees are opposite, usually deciduous,

Bouira

2005-01-21T07:08:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region is encompassed by the ranges and valleys of the Tell Atlas. Although it

Switzerland, Environment

2005-01-19T22:47:00.000-08:00

A number of environmental problems must be addressed if Switzerland is to maintain the integrity of its unique landscape. Air pollution in the cities and the mountain valleys, depending on atmospheric conditions, has steadily worsened despite federal legislation. All Swiss vehicles must pass an annual emissions test; however, weak links are the millions of foreign

Bruegel, Jan, The Elder

2005-01-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

The second son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, born just before his father's death, he was reared by a grandmother and learned his art in Antwerp. In his youth, he went to Italy, where he painted under the patronage of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, and later, in 1610, he was

O'brien, Parry

2005-01-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

O'Brien began putting the shot in high school in Santa Monica, where he also threw the discus, was a sprinter, and played football. In his freshman year at the University

Tombolo

2005-01-17T04:21:00.000-08:00

One or more sandbars or spits that connect an island to the mainland. A single tombolo may connect a tied island to the mainland, as at Marblehead, Mass. A double tombolo encloses a lagoon that eventually fills with sediment; fine examples of these occur off the coast of Italy. The shallower waters that occur between an island and the mainland are the loci of such features

Bruce Peninsula

2005-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Saugeen Peninsula, extension of the Niagara Escarpment, southeastern Ontario, Canada. The peninsula juts northwestward for 60 miles (100 km) into Lake Huron, separating that lake from Georgian Bay. After rising abruptly from its rugged east coast to heights of 200–500 feet (60–150 m) above the lake, the peninsula slopes gradually to its western coast. Although it is poor agriculturally, it is a popular vacation

Xenolith

2005-01-15T00:04:00.000-08:00

Rock fragment within an intrusive igneous body that is unrelated to the igneous body itself. Xenoliths, which represent pieces of older rock incorporated into the magma while it was still fluid, may be located near their original positions of detachment or may have settled deep into the intrusion, if their density is greater. Xenoliths can be contrasted with autoliths

Mitchell, Margaret

2005-01-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

Mitchell attended Washington Seminary in her native Atlanta, Georgia, before enrolling at Smith College in 1918. When her mother died the next year, she returned home. Between 1922 and 1926 she was a writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal. After an ankle injury in

Literary Criticism, The late 19th century

2005-01-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

The Romantic movement had been spurred not only by German philosophy but also by the universalistic and utopian hopes that accompanied the French Revolution. Some of those hopes were thwarted by political reaction, while others were blunted by industrial capitalism and the accession to power of the class that had demanded general liberty. Advocates of the literary

Insurance, Sue and labour clause

2005-01-11T00:03:00.000-08:00

The sue and labour clause requires the ship owner to make every attempt to reduce or save the exposed interests from loss. Under the terms of the clause, the insurer pays for any necessary costs incurred in carrying out the requirements of the sue and labour clause. Thus, if a ship is stranded, under the sue and labour clause the hull owner would be required to hire salvors

Painting, Western, Germany

2005-01-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

In Germany also there was a reaction against classicism and the academies, and, as elsewhere, it involved all aspects of the arts. Again, as elsewhere, theory preceded practice: Herzensergiessungen eines kunstliebenden Klosterbruders (“Effusions of an Art-Loving Monk”), by Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, had an immediate and widespread influence upon its publication

Macdiarmid, Hugh

2005-01-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

The son of a postman, MacDiarmid was educated at Langholm Academy and the University of Edinburgh. After serving in World War I he became a journalist in Montrose, Angus, where he edited three issues of the first

Bohr Atomic Model

2005-01-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

Description of the structure of atoms, especially that of hydrogen, proposed (1913) by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr. The Bohr model of the atom, a radical departure from earlier, classical descriptions, was the first that incorporated quantum theory and was the predecessor of wholly quantum-mechanical models. The Bohr model and all of its successors describe the properties

Breconian Stage

2005-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Division of the Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian Period in western Europe (the Devonian Period began about 395,000,000 years ago and lasted about 50,000,000 years); the Breconian Stage follows the Dittonian and precedes the Farlovian Stage. It was named for exposures studied at the Brecon Beacons in southern Wales. The rocks of the Breconian consist of red, gray, and green sandstones in

Trachea

2005-01-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

In vertebrates and invertebrates, a tube or system of tubes that carries air. In insects, a few land arachnids, and myriapods, the trachea is an elaborate system of small, branching tubes that carry oxygen to individual body cells; in most land vertebrates, the trachea is the windpipe, which conveys air from the larynx to the two main

Heinz Company

2005-01-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

The company was founded in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1869 by Henry John Heinz (1844–1919), who was later to become nationally known as the “Pickle

Mina

2005-01-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

The earliest of all known units of weight, created by the Babylonians and used by the Hittites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks. Its weight and relationship to its major subdivisions varied at different times and places in the ancient world. In one surviving form, from the Babylonian period, the mina weighs about 640 grams, while in another it weighs

India, Other important sites

2005-01-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

A growing number of other sites have been excavated, each important in its own way. On the coast near Las Bela in Baluchistan, materials suggesting a substantial shell-working industry have been found at Balakot. Not far from Mehrgarh, at the head of the Kacchi desert, the small settlement of Naushahro Firoz provides valuable evidence of the actual transformation of

Delibes, (clément-philibert-)léo

2004-12-31T11:38:00.000-08:00

French opera and ballet composer who was the first to write music of high quality for the ballet. His pioneering symphonic work for the ballet opened up a field for serious composers, and his influence can be traced in the work of Tchaikovsky and others who wrote for the dance. His own music—light, graceful, elegant, with a tendency

Quadriceps Femoris Muscle

2004-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

Large fleshy muscle group covering the front and sides of the thigh. It has four parts: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. They originate at the ilium (upper part of the pelvis, or hipbone) and femur (thighbone), come together in a tendon surrounding the patella (kneecap), and insert at (are attached to) the tibia (shinbone). These muscles

Ala Shan Desert

2004-12-29T10:35:00.000-08:00

Southernmost portion of the Gobi (desert), occupying about 400,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km) in north-central China. Covering portions of the western Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northern Kansu sheng (province), it is bounded by the Huang Ho (Yellow River) and Ho-lan Mountains on the east and southeast; by the Ch'i-lien Mountains on the south and southwest; by the northern

Togo, German occupation

2004-12-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

German missionaries arrived in Ewe territory in 1847, and German traders were soon established at Anécho. In 1884 Gustav Nachtigal, sent by the German government, induced a number of coastal chiefs to accept German protection. The protectorate was recognized in 1885, and its coastal frontiers with Dahomey and the Gold Coast were defined by treaties with France and Great Britain.

Elgon, Mount

2004-12-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

Extinct volcano on the Kenya-Uganda boundary. Its crater, about 5 miles (8 km) in diameter, contains several peaks, of which Wagagai (14,178 feet [4,321 m]) is the highest. Its extrusions cover about 1,250 square miles (3,200 square km) and consist largely of fragmental rocks and only a smattering of lavas. The mountain slope is gentle and the outline unimpressive. On the east and southeast at about 6,200 feet

Induan Stage

2004-12-26T16:27:00.000-08:00

Lowermost of two divisions of the Lower Triassic Series, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during Induan time (from 248 million to 245 million years ago) in the Triassic Period. The stage name is derived from the Indus River in the Salt Range of Pakistan. The stratotype for the Induan, as originally defined, is the strata above the Chhideru beds and below the Upper

Marquette University

2004-12-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Milwaukee, Wis., U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. It offers degree programs at the bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional levels. Marquette comprises 12 schools, colleges, and programs, including a school of law and a physical therapy program. The School of Dentistry

Argentina, Foreign policies

2004-12-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

Rosas's foreign policies left no room for anything other than total success or total failure, and international difficulties arose as extensions of domestic turmoil. In January 1833 Britain reasserted an earlier claim to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), and a British warship took possession of the islands. More troublesome was the growing independence of neighbouring

Prichard

2004-12-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

City, Mobile county, southwestern Alabama, U.S., a northern industrial suburb of Mobile. It was named for Cleveland Prichard, who purchased a tract of land (1879) on the east side of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad track and developed it into a vegetable-shipping point for markets in the North and East. The city's industries now include shipbuilding and the manufacture of chemicals,

Marghilon

2004-12-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

Formerly Margilan, city, eastern Uzbekistan. It lies 19 miles (30 km) north of Fergana. Originally known as Marginan, it probably dates back to the 2nd–1st century BC, when one branch of the great Silk Road to the Orient ran through the Fergana Valley. It was an important commercial town in the 10th–12th century AD, and one of the largest cities in the valley in the 16th century. It formed part of the khanate of Kokand

Stead, C.k.

2004-12-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Stead studied at the University of Auckland (B.A., 1954; M.A., 1955) and the University of Bristol, England (Ph.D., 1961). From 1959 to 1986 he taught at the University of Auckland, becoming a full professor in 1968. His first book of poetry, Whether

Mercier, Louis-sébastien

2004-12-20T20:59:00.000-08:00

One of the first French writers of drame bourgeois (middle-class drama). In Du théâtre (1773; “About the Theatre”), he emphasized the didactic function of the theatre, and in his plays he presented a thesis, subordinating dramatic considerations to the didactic end. He criticized traditional French tragedy as artificial and sterile, though he

'abbas Ii

2004-12-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of his reign, 'Abbas attempted to rule independently of Lord Cromer, the British agent and consul general in Egypt. Encouraged by popular

Sports

2004-12-17T16:44:00.000-08:00

Recreational or competitive activities that involve a degree of physical strength or skill. At one time, sports were commonly considered to include only the outdoor recreational pastimes, such as fishing, shooting, and hunting, as opposed to games, which were regarded as organized athletic contests played by teams or individuals according to prescribed rules.

Qedesha

2004-12-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

Also spelled kedesha or kedeshah , Akkadian qadishtu one of a class of sacred prostitutes found throughout the ancient Middle East, especially in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292–c. 1075 BC). Her representation

West Frisian Islands

2004-12-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

Dutch West Friese Eilanden, part of the chain of Frisian Islands (q.v.), which lie in the North Sea just off the coast of northwestern Europe. They belong to The Netherlands.

Conscientious Objector

2004-12-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

Conscientious