LeftBrick

Arnhem

2005-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

German Arnheim, gemeente (municipality) and capital (1794), Gelderland provincie (province), eastern Netherlands, on the north bank of the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River. Possibly the site of the Roman settlement of Arenacum, it was first mentioned in 893. Chartered and fortified in 1233 by Otto II, count of Geldern, it joined the Hanseatic League in 1443. As the residence of the dukes of Geldern, it was often

Daigo

2005-04-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

The son of the emperor Uda, he ascended the throne in 897 and assumed the reign name Daigo; Uda, however, continued to hold power as the retired emperor. Like his father, Daigo attempted

Murder, Inc.

2005-04-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

In popular usage, an arm of the American national crime syndicate, founded in the 1930s to threaten, maim, or murder designated victims for a price; the organization lacked an official name. Murder, Inc., was headed by Louis “Lepke” Buchalter and later by Albert Anastasia, and its services were available to any syndicate member anywhere in the country. Most victims of Murder,

Gumel

2005-04-03T14:48:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Gummel town and traditional emirate, northern Jigawa state, northern Nigeria. The emirate was founded about 1750 by Dan Juma of Kano city (75 miles [121 km] southwest) and his followers of the Manga (Mangawa) tribe. Shortly after his death in 1754, it became a tributary state of the Bornu kingdom. The emirate survived the Fulani attacks of Usman dan Fodio's jihad (“holy war”) in the early 19th century and

Quack Grass

2005-04-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Quack grass has long, yellowish-white

Hawran

2005-04-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

Divided between the Nabataeans and the Romans until AD 106, the

Shimazu Family

2005-04-01T00:12:00.000-08:00

Powerful warrior clan that controlled the southern tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu from the 12th to the 19th century. Ensconced in their isolated stronghold on the frontier of Japan, the Shimazu were the only feudal family to play a leading role in Japanese history in both medieval and modern times. During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1867), the family's Satsuma fief was the

Beresford, Jack

2005-03-31T02:04:00.000-08:00

During World War I, Beresford was wounded in France in 1918. He then returned to London and joined his father's furniture manufacturing business. As a member of the Thames Rowing Club, Beresford won the Diamond Sculls

David Ap Llywelyn

2005-03-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

His father, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, had made Gwynedd the centre of Welsh power, and his mother, Joan, was the illegitimate daughter of King John of England (ruled 1199–1216). Although Llywelyn designated David as his successor, his half brother Gruffudd opposed him. While the aged Llywelyn

Pigweed

2005-03-30T02:15:00.000-08:00

Any of several coarse annual plants of cosmopolitan distribution that are often troublesome weeds. Several of them belong to the genus Amaranthus, of the family Amaranthaceae. Prostrate pigweed, or mat amaranth (A. graecizans), grows along the ground surface with stems rising at the tips; spiny pigweed, or spiny amaranth (A. spinosus), has spines at the base of the leafstalks;

Doyle, Richard

2005-03-29T01:15:00.000-08:00

A student of his father, Doyle regularly contributed (from 1843) decorations, theatre sketches, and political caricatures to Punch. The cover

Ponte Vecchio

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

(Italian: “Old Bridge”), first segmental arch bridge built in the West, which crosses over the Arno River at Florence and is an outstanding engineering achievement of the European Middle Ages. Its builder, Taddeo Gaddi, completed the bridge in 1345. Requiring fewer piers in the stream than the Roman semicircular-arch design, the segmental arch offered less obstruction to

Polidoúri, Maria

2005-03-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

Her two books of poems

Allen, Sir Hugh (percy)

2005-03-27T03:33:00.000-08:00

Allen was an organ scholar at Christ's College, Cambridge, and later held organist's posts at Ely cathedral (1898–1901) and New College, Oxford (1901–18). In 1918 he became director of the Royal College of Music, London, and in

Cyprus, Church Of

2005-03-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Orthodox Church Of Cyprus, one of the oldest autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. Its independence, first recognized by the third ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431), was reaffirmed by the Council in Trullo (692) and was never lost, not even during the occupation of the island by the crusaders. Under the feudal French dynasty of the Lusignans (1191–1489) and

Manchester

2005-03-26T08:41:00.000-08:00

Town (township), which includes Manchester Village, Manchester Center, and Manchester Depot in southwestern Vermont, U.S. It lies near the Batten Kill River between the Taconic Range and the Green Mountains. Manchester Village is one of the seats (the other is Bennington) of Bennington county. The site was settled about 1764 and laid out in 1784. The Vermont Council of Safety (where

Gadda, Carlo Emilio

2005-03-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Gadda was educated as an electrical engineer and volunteered in World War I. During the 1920s he worked as an engineer abroad. He began writing in the 1930s and from the first demonstrated

China, Temperature

2005-03-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

Temperatures generally decrease from south to north. The mean annual temperature is above 68 °F (20 °C) in the Pearl River Valley. It decreases to between 59 and 68 °F (15 and 20 °C) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze, to about 50 °F (10 °C) in North China and the southern part of Sinkiang, and to 41 °F (5 °C) in the southern area of the Northeast, the northern part of Sinkiang, and places near the Great Wall.

Ethiopic Alphabet

2005-03-24T04:32:00.000-08:00

Writing system used to write the Ge'ez literary and ecclesiastical language and the Amharic, Tigre, and Tigrinya languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Apparently derived from Sabaean, a South Semitic script, the Ethiopic script probably originated in the early 4th century AD; it is unclear whether Ethiopic resulted from a gradual evolution of the Sabaean script or whether

Giotto Di Bondone

2005-03-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

In January 1330, King Robert of Naples promoted Giotto to the rank of “familiar” (member of the royal household), which implies that he had been in Naples for some while, possibly since 1329, and he remained there until 1332–33. All the works he executed there have been lost, but traces of his style may be distinguished in the local school. On April 12, 1334, he was appointed capomastro, or surveyor, of

Halas, John; And Batchelor, Joy

2005-03-22T14:50:00.000-08:00

Halas was educated in Hungary and Paris and apprenticed to George Pal; he moved to England as an animator in 1936. After art school Batchelor became a commercial artist and met Halas in 1936 while working

Natal

2005-03-22T10:15:00.000-08:00

The Portuguese navigator Vasco de Gama sighted the coast along what is now Durban on Christmas Day in 1497 and named the country Terra Natalis, after the Portuguese word (“Natal”) for Christmas. The Portuguese maintained a trading settlement

Armour

2005-03-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Types of armour generally fall into one of three main categories: (1) armour made of leather, fabric, or mixed layers of both, sometimes reinforced by quilting or felt, (2) mail, made of interwoven rings of iron or steel,

Hippolytus Of Rome, Saint

2005-03-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hippolytus was a leader of the Roman church during the pontificate (c. 199–217) of St. Zephyrinus, whom he attacked as being a modalist (one who conceives that the entire Trinity dwells in Christ and who maintains that the names Father and Son are only different designations

Garcia, Carlos Polestico

2005-03-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

Fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines. After graduating from law school in 1923, he became, successively, a schoolteacher, representative in the Philippine Congress, governor of his province (Bohol), and then (1941–53) senator. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Garcia was active in the resistance movement.

Fides

2005-03-19T07:34:00.000-08:00

Roman goddess, the deification of good faith and honesty. Many of the oldest Roman deities were embodiments of high ideals (e.g., Honos, Libertas); it was the function of Fides to oversee the moral integrity of the Romans. Closely associated with Jupiter, Fides was honoured with a temple built near his on the Capitoline Hill in 254 BC. In symbolic recognition of the secret, inviolable

Nepal, Drainage

2005-03-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

The Kathmandu Valley, the political and cultural hub of the nation, is drained by the Baghmati River, flowing southward, which washes the steps of the sacred temple of Pasupatinatha (Pashupatinath) and rushes out of the valley through the deeply cut Chhobar gorge. Some sandy layers of the lacustrine beds act as aquifers (water-bearing strata of permeable rock, sand, or gravel),

Ivy League

2005-03-18T08:33:00.000-08:00

A group of colleges and universities in the northeastern United States that are widely regarded as high in academic and social prestige: Harvard (established 1636), Yale (1701), Pennsylvania (1740), Princeton (1746), Columbia (1754), Brown (1764), Dartmouth (1769), and Cornell (1865). They are members of an athletic conference for intercollegiate American football and other sports known as the Ivy League. Though formally

Byoir, Carl

2005-03-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

In high school Byoir was a reporter for the Iowa State Register, and by the age of 17 he was city editor of the Waterloo Tribune. He worked his way through the University of Iowa, went to work for the Hearst magazines, and by 1916 had become circulation

Papaya

2005-03-17T04:47:00.000-08:00

Also called papaw , or pawpaw succulent fruit of a large plant (Carica papaya) of the family Caricaceae that is considered a tree, though its palmlike trunk, up to 8 m (26 feet) tall, is not as woody as the designation generally implies. The plant is crowned by deeply lobed leaves, sometimes 60 cm (2 feet) across, borne on hollow petioles 60 cm long. Normally, the species is dioecious, male and female flowers

Denizli

2005-03-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

City, southwestern Turkey. It lies near a tributary of the Menderes River. Set among the gardens at the foot of Mount Gökbel (7,572 feet [2,308 m]), Denizli inherited the economic position of ancient Laodicea ad Lycum, 4 miles (6 km) away, when that town was deserted during wars between the Byzantines and the Seljuq Turks in the 12th century. By the 14th century, as Lâdik (Ladiq), Denizli had emerged

Lowell, Josephine Shaw

2005-03-16T02:02:00.000-08:00

She was born to wealthy Bostonians who numbered among their friends such well-known figures as James Russell Lowell and Margaret Fuller. Traveling

Shedd Aquarium

2005-03-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

In full John G. Shedd Aquarium, one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world. Built with funds donated by John Graves Shedd, a prominent local businessman, the aquarium opened in Chicago in 1929. It contains more than 200 exhibition tanks, housing in excess of 5,000 specimens of 560 species of fishes (both freshwater and marine) and other aquatic animals from around the world. The total water capacity is more than

Andean Peoples

2005-03-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

Studies of the pre-Columbian history and culture of this area may be found in the bibliography of the article pre-Columbian civilizations. The best account of Andean cultures as they appeared to an eyewitness of the early years (16th century) of European rule is Pedro de Cieza de León, The Incas (1959, reissued 1969; originally published in Spanish, 1554). An introduction to Andean archaeology may be found in John Howland Rowe and Dorothy Menzel (eds.), Peruvian Archaeology (1967), with selections mainly by American scholars. The role of irrigation in the cultural and political elaboration of coastal kingdoms is well illustrated in Paul Kosok, Life, Land, and Water in Ancient Peru (1965). Special regional problems are introduced in Louis C. Faron, Mapuche Social Structure (1961), a study of the reintegration of these people of Chile since the time of conquest; L.C. Faron, Hawks of the Sun (1964), on the Southern Andes; Betty J. Meggers, Ecuador (1966); Donald W. Lathrap, The Upper Amazon (1970); Paul T. Baker and Michael A. Little (eds.), Man in the Andes: A Multidisciplinary Study of High-Altitude Quechua (1976); Kevin Kling, Ecuador: Island of the Andes (1988; originally published in French, 1987), focusing on Indian culture and life and illustrated with photographs; and Steve J. Stern, Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest: Huamanga to 1640, 2nd ed. (1993).

Theme

2005-03-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

The organization of territory into themes began under Emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641), who stationed troops in three large districts under the

Kornilov, Lavr Georgiyevich

2005-03-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

An intelligence

Trachyte

2005-03-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

Light-coloured, very fine-grained extrusive igneous rock that is composed chiefly of alkali feldspar with minor amounts of dark-coloured minerals such as biotite, amphibole, or pyroxene. Compositionally, trachyte is the volcanic equivalent of the plutonic (intrusive) rock syenite. Most trachytes show porphyritic texture in which abundant, large, well-formed crystals

Binswanger, Ludwig

2005-03-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Swiss psychiatrist and writer who applied the principles of existential phenomenology, especially as expressed by Martin Heidegger, to psychotherapy. Diagnosing certain psychic abnormalities (e.g., elation fixation, eccentricity, and mannerism) to be the effect of the patient's distorted self-image and his inadequate

Aerospace Industry, Military aircraft

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

The large majority of military aircraft are fighters, followed by bombers, transporter-tankers, early-warning and patrol aircraft, and a variety of propeller- and jet-driven trainers. As is the case with commercial aircraft, the complexity of the technology and the immense capital requirements have narrowed the number of suppliers. In addition, the end of the Cold

Furniture, France

2005-03-12T01:14:00.000-08:00

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

Lagash

2005-03-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

Modern Telloh one of the most important capital cities in ancient Sumer, located midway between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southeastern Iraq. The ancient name of the mound of Telloh was actually Girsu, while Lagash originally denoted a site southeast of Girsu, later becoming the name of the whole district and also of Girsu itself. The French excavated at Telloh between

Marsh Marigold

2005-03-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

The stem of a marsh marigold is hollow, and the leaves are kidney-shaped, heart-shaped, or round. The glossy flowers are 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) across and have pink, white, or yellow sepals. Petals are absent. The stems, leaves, and roots

Kerry

2005-03-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Irish Ciarraí county in the province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. With an area of 1,815 square miles (4,701 square km), it is bounded by Counties Limerick and Cork to the east and by the Atlantic Ocean or its inlets to the south, west, and north. Tralee is the county seat. The principal highlands of Kerry, among which are the highest mountains in Ireland, are of sandstone. Three, and part of a fourth,

Port Dickson

2005-03-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

Town, south-central West Malaysia (Malaya), on the Strait of Malacca. The port, now in decline, was used extensively during the late 19th century to export the tin mined in the foothills of the state. Now chiefly a seaside resort with a fishing village, it is connected by rail with the inland entrepôt of Seremban, 17 miles (27 km) northeast. Oil refineries are concentrated along the

Udayanacarya

2005-03-10T02:06:00.000-08:00

Of the two schools, the old Nyaya system was concerned with the critical examination of

Southampton, William Fitzwilliam, Earl Of

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

A son of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Aldwarke, near Rotherham, Fitzwilliam was a companion in boyhood of Henry VIII and was knighted for his services at the siege of Tournai in 1513. Later he was treasurer of Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey's household and was sent several times to France

Powers, Delegation Of

2005-03-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

In law, the transfer of authority by one person or group to another person or group. For example, the U.S. Congress may create government agencies to which it delegates authority to promulgate and enforce regulations pursuant to law. More specifically, in U.S. constitutional law, delegation of powers refers to the different powers granted respectively to each of three

Alamo

2005-03-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

The building was originally the chapel of the Mission San Antonio de Valero, which had been founded between 1716 and 1718 by Franciscans. Before the end of the century the mission was abandoned

Antaimoro

2005-03-07T03:17:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Antimorona, a Malagasy people living on and near the southeastern coast of Madagascar. Numbering about 350,000 in the late 20th century, the Antaimoro (“People of the Coast”) speak one of the Malagasy languages, a group of closely related Western Austronesian languages. Traditionally the Antaimoro were ruled by five families of Arabic origin who probably came to Madagascar at different

Camagüey

2005-03-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

Because of the great production of livestock, sugarcane, and other agricultural products and of chromite

Paleo-siberian Languages

2005-03-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Paleo-Siberian also spelled Paleosiberian , also called Paleo-Asiatic languages or Hyperborean languages languages spoken in Asian Russia (Siberia) that belong to four genetically unrelated groups—Yeniseian, Luorawetlan, Yukaghir, and Nivkh.

Omalius D'halloy, Jean-baptiste-julien D'

2005-03-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

D'Omalius was educated first in Liège and afterward in Paris. While a youth he became interested in geology (over the protests of his parents) and, having an independent income, was able to devote his energies to geologic researches. As early as 1808 he communicated

Contract Bridge

2005-03-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

Two world championship tournaments took place during 2000, the first time that had happened since 1976. The Bermuda Bowl is normally played in odd-numbered years, but because Bermuda requested to host the 50th anniversary competition, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) agreed to postpone the 1999 event to January 2000. In the final the United States defeated Brazil 506–288. The second U.S. entry

Heidenheim

2005-03-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Officially Heidenheim an der Brenz city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the Brenz River in the eastern Swabian Alps. The site of a Roman settlement, it was chartered in 1356. It is overlooked by the ruined castle of Hellenstein (with a museum) standing on a hill (1,985 feet [605 m]). Since 1723 it has held traditional shepherds' competitions. Precision instruments, tools, machinery, textiles, and cement are

Amalgam

2005-03-04T08:53:00.000-08:00

A sodium amalgam is formed during the

Australia Day

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

Holiday (January 26) honouring the establishment of the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia. On January 26, 1788, Arthur Phillip, who had sailed into what is now Sydney Cove with a shipload of convicts, hoisted the British flag at the site. In the early 1800s the date, called Foundation Day, was celebrated by politicians and businessmen of New South Wales

Great Falls

2005-03-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1887) of Cascade county, west-central Montana, U.S. It lies along the Missouri River, near the falls (96 feet [29 metres] high) for which it was named. In 1805 the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark observed the falls and nearby Giant Springs, one of the world's largest freshwater springs. First settled in 1883, the community was sustained with the arrival in 1887 of the Manitoba

Kuala Lipis

2005-03-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

Town, central West Malaysia (Malaya), situated along the Jelai River. It is a commercial centre for nearby villages and the riverine Aboriginals who inhabit the dense jungle to the north. Some of its residents live on the slopes of the surrounding hills, while many Malay families cluster in communities of raft huts along the river. The terminus of the central Malayan

Gnosticism

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

The designation Gnosticism, derived from the Greek gn

La Rive, Auguste-arthur De

2005-03-02T05:18:00.000-08:00

La Rive was elected to the chair of natural philosophy at the Academy of Geneva in 1823, and for the next seven years he conducted studies on the specific heat of various gases and the temperature of the Earth's crust. His experiments in 1836 on the voltaic

Paleogeography

2005-03-02T02:38:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Palaeogeography, the geography of selected portions of the Earth's surface at specific times in the geologic past. This geography consists of interpreted reconstructions, produced in map form, which represent visual summaries of a wide variety of complex geologic information. The maps provide a series of relatively instantaneous views of the Earth through geologic time. Paleogeographic

Rose, Hugh Henry, Baron Strathnairn Of Strathnairn And Of Jhansi

2005-02-28T21:41:00.000-08:00

Son of the diplomat Sir George Rose, he was educated and received his military training in Berlin and entered the British army in 1820. From 1841 to 1848 he was consul general in Syria. As British liaison officer at French headquarters during the Crimean War,

Aerospace Medicine

2005-02-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

The ultimate aim of this specialty is to promote the safety and effectiveness of humans while they are exposed to the stresses of aerospace flight, such as extreme temperatures,

Earth Mother

2005-02-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

In ancient and modern nonliterate religions, an eternally fruitful source of everything. Unlike the variety of female fertility deities called mother goddesses (q.v.), the Earth Mother is not a specific source of vitality who must periodically undergo sexual intercourse. She is simply the mother; there is nothing separate from her. All things come from her, return

Alembert, Jean Le Rond D'

2005-02-27T05:05:00.000-08:00

The main editions of d'Alembert's collected works are: Oeuvres philosophiques, historiques et littéraires de d'Alembert, ed. by J.F. Bastien, 18 vol. (1805); and Oeuvres complètes de d'Alembert, ed. by Bossange and Belin, 5 vol. (1821, reprinted 1967). These may be supplemented by d'Alembert's Mélanges de littérature, d'histoire et de philosophie, 2 vol. (1753), 4 vol. (1759), 5th vol. (1767), which contain a few pieces omitted from the collected editions; and his Histoire des membres de l'Académie française morts depuis 1700 jusqu'en 1771, 6 vol. (1785–87, reprinted 1970). General studies are: Joseph Bertrand, D'Alembert (1889); and Ronald Grimsley, Jean d'Alembert, 1717–83 (1963).

Eusden, Laurence

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

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

Usulután

2005-02-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

City, southeastern El Salvador. It lies on the Pacific coastal plain at the southern foot of Usulután Volcano. The city's name, which is Indian, means “city of the ocelots.” Usulután is a commercial centre dealing in the grain, coffee, sugarcane, fruit, and hardwood lumber produced in the adjacent hinterland. The city has only small industrial developments. Pop. (1985 est.) 32,172.

Kiribati

2005-02-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

A few of the islands are compact with fringing reefs, but most are atolls. The largest atoll (and one of the largest in the world) is Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Line group, which has a land area of 150 square miles (388 square km) and accounts for about one-half of the country's total. Kiritimati was used for U.S. and British nuclear testing in the 1960s; it now has a large coconut plantation

Geoffrin, Marie-thérèse Rodet

2005-02-25T01:36:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a valet, she married a rich manufacturer, a member of the newly influential bourgeoisie, with whom she had no rapport. Although lacking formal education herself, Madame Geoffrin was sensitive, an excellent

Hindustan

2005-02-24T21:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Hindusthan (Persian: “Land of the Hindus”), historically, northern India, in contrast to the Deccan, or southern India. This area can be defined more particularly as the basin of the five Punjab rivers and the upper Gangetic Plain. As a mostly fertile and well-populated corridor situated between walls of mountain, desert, and sea, Hindustan has been regarded as the principal seat of Indian

Iron Age

2005-02-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Final technological and cultural stage in the Stone–Bronze–Iron-Age sequence. The date of the full Iron Age, in which this metal for the most part replaced bronze in implements and weapons, varied geographically, beginning in the Middle East and southeastern Europe about 1200 BC but in China not until about 600 BC. Although in the Middle East iron had limited use as a scarce and precious

Aeschylus

2005-02-23T16:48:00.000-08:00

Studies of special topics relating to Aeschylus' plays include Anthony J. Podlecki, The Political Background of Aeschylean Tragedy (1966); A.F. Garvie, Aeschylus' “Supplices”: Play and Trilogy (1969); George Thomson, Aeschylus and Athens: A Study in the Social Origins of Drama, 4th ed. (1973), a Marxist study; Anne Lebeck, The Oresteia: A Study in Language and Structure (1971), on the significant connections of imagery; R.P. Winnington-Ingram, Studies in Aeschylus (1983), a collection of insightful essays; Thomas G. Rosenmeyer, The Art of Aeschylus (1982), a critical study; D.J. Conacher, Aeschylus' “Prometheus Bound”: A Literary Commentary (1980); Mark Griffith, The Authenticity of “Prometheus Bound” (1977), a powerful attack on authenticity; and Oliver Taplin, The Stagecraft of Aeschylus: The Dramatic Use of Exits and Entrances in Greek Tragedy (1978), on dramatic techniques and meanings.

Water Shield

2005-02-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Each oval, floating leaf of water shield is 5 to 10 centimetres (about 2 to 4 inches) long. A long, jelly-coated

Madhva

2005-02-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

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

Irish Potato Famine

2005-02-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Potato Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine Of 1845–49, famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49 when the potato crop failed in successive years. The crop failures were caused by late blight (q.v.), a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. The causative agent of late blight is the fungus Phytophthora infestans. The Irish Potato Famine was the worst famine to occur in Europe in the

Palauan Language

2005-02-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

Major language of Palau, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is classified as belonging to the eastern branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) family of languages. Like Chamorro, which is spoken in the Mariana Islands, it is considered to be of the Indonesian type of languages, with closest relations to the Philippine languages. Palauan, with about 14,000 speakers in the

Vacuum Technology

2005-02-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

Capacities >are available from 1/2 to 1,000 cubic feet per minute, operating from atmospheric pressure down to as low as 2 ´ 10-2 torr for single-stage pumps and less than 5 ´ 10-3 torr for two-stage pumps. The pumps develop their full speed from atmosphere to about one torr, the speed then decreasing to zero at their ultimate pressures. One device of this type, useful for pumping both liquids

Palladius

2005-02-21T05:24:00.000-08:00

Palladius took up the ascetical life himself, first at the Mount of Olives, the scene of Christ's Passion outside Jerusalem,

Brieux, Eugène

2005-02-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

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

Feng-shan

2005-02-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

Formerly Kao-hsiung Hsien, shih (municipality) and seat of Kao-hsiung hsien (county), southwestern Taiwan, situated about 5 miles (8 km) east of Kao-hsiung shih in Taiwan's western coastal plain. Developed during a politically unsettled period of the 17th century in an interregnum dominated by the pirate Cheng Chih-lung (1604–61), the city has many Buddhist and Confucian relics. The major industries are rice and

Earth, The nature of gravity

2005-02-19T01:53:00.000-08:00

It is a familiar phenomenon that an object released above the Earth's surface accelerates toward the Earth. This phenomenon is a special case of universal gravitation—all mass within the universe attracts all other mass. The acceleration in this special case is known as the acceleration due to gravity, denoted g. Reference has already been made above to the fact that

Ford, Ford Madox

2005-02-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

The son of a German music critic, Francis Hueffer, and a grandson of Ford Madox Brown, one of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, Ford grew up in a cultured, artistic environment. At 18 he wrote his first novel, The Shifting of Fire (1892). His acquaintance

Ducommun, élie

2005-02-18T19:28:00.000-08:00

After working as a magazine and newspaper editor in Geneva and Bern, Ducommun spent most of his career as general secretary of the Jura-Simplon Railway. His spare time, however, was spent on peace activities. He took an active part in the movement for European

Bejel

2005-02-17T16:59:00.000-08:00

Although endemic syphilis differs clinically from sporadic (venereal) syphilis, both are diagnosed by the same tests, treated by the same drugs, and caused by the same parasite (Treponema pallidum); both cause the same fundamental pathological changes in the tissues.

Aerospace Engineering

2005-02-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Also called aeronautical engineering, or astronautical engineering, field of engineering concerned with the design, development, construction, testing, and operation of vehicles operating in the Earth's atmosphere or in outer space. In 1958 the first definition of aerospace engineering appeared, considering the Earth's atmosphere and the space above it as a single realm for development of flight vehicles. Today the more encompassing

Henderson, Sir Nevile Meyrick

2005-02-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

Henderson joined the diplomatic service in 1905, serving as minister

Marrucini

2005-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Ancient tribe that occupied a small area around Teate (modern Chieti) on the east coast of Italy. The Marrucini, though Samnite kinsmen, were probably not members of the Samnite league; they did, however, come into conflict with the Romans during the Second Samnite War, at the end of which they entered the Roman alliance (304 BC). They revolted in 91 BC and were thereafter enrolled in

Marsh Frog

2005-02-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

(Rana ridibunda), large aquatic frog (family Ranidae), similar in appearance and habits to the closely related pool frog (R. lessonae) and the edible frog (R. esculenta). In Europe they are all called green frogs. The marsh frog inhabits marshes, river banks, and lake edges in Europe and western Asia. About 9 to 13 cm (3.5 to 5 inches) long, it is brown or green, with or without irregular black

Switzerland, Internal political difficulties; external threats to neutrality

2005-02-15T04:05:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, this era of material prosperity was not free from political problems. The Mediation Act had disappeared with Napoleon, its place taken by a new Federal Pact that once again established Switzerland as a confederation of sovereign states united only for common defense and the maintenance of internal order. Thus, the formulation and execution of

Russell Cave National Monument

2005-02-14T00:56:00.000-08:00

Portion of a limestone cavern in northeastern Alabama, U.S., 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Bridgeport and just south of the Alabama-Tennessee border. The cave and site area (0.5 square mile [1.3 square km]) were given to the National Park Service by the National Geographic Society in 1958, and the national monument was created in 1961. The cave is named for Thomas Russell, a veteran of the American

Aesthetics, Major concerns of 18th-century aesthetics

2005-02-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

The development of aesthetics between the work of Baumgarten and that of Immanuel Kant, who had been influenced by Baumgarten's writings, was complex and diverse, drawing inspiration from virtually every realm of human inquiry. Yet, throughout this period certain topics repeatedly received focal attention in discussions pertaining to aesthetic

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Diversity of forms

2005-02-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

Since an allegorical purpose can inform works of literature in a wide range of genres, it is not surprising to find that the largest allegories are epic in scope. A quest forms the narrative thread of both the Greek epic Odyssey and the Latin, Aeneid, and it is an allegory of the quest for heroic perfection; thus, allegory is aligned with the epic form. Romances, both prose

Teasdale, Sara

2005-02-13T10:22:00.000-08:00

Teasdale was educated privately and made frequent trips to Chicago, where she eventually became part of Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine circle. Her first published poem appeared in the St. Louis, Missouri, weekly Reedy's

Earthflow

2005-02-12T02:50:00.000-08:00

Sheet or stream of soil and rock material saturated with water and flowing downslope under the pull of gravity; it represents the intermediate stage between creep and mudflow. Earthflows usually begin in a large basin on the upper part of a slope where debris and weathered material accumulate; the movement, usually set off by heavy rainfall, may be relatively slow

Carnivore, Importance to humans

2005-02-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

The scavenger habits of most of the members of the Hyaenidae make them of considerable benefit to the ecosystem as a whole and often directly to man. They perform the service of eliminating the remnants left by the large predators and thus fit into a niche unused by most mammals. In some parts of Africa, hyenas are allowed to roam the villages, cleaning up garbage. In

Godard, Jean-luc

2005-02-11T05:36:00.000-08:00

Godard spent his formative years on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva, where his father directed a clinic. His higher education consisted of study for a degree in ethnology at the University of Paris, interminable student café conversations,

Lean, Sir David

2005-02-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

Lean was the son of strict Quaker parents and did not see his first film until age 17. He began his film career in 1928 as a teaboy for Gaumont-British studios, where he soon was promoted to clapboard boy, and finally to editor,

Haas, Walter A.

2005-02-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

Haas's association with Levi Strauss & Co. began in 1914 with his marriage

Nahuel Huapí National Park

2005-02-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Spanish Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapí, national park in Río Negro and Neuquén provinces, southwestern Argentina; it encompasses Lake Nahuel Huapí in the Andes adjacent to the Chilean border. It originated as a reserve in 1903 with a private donation of 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares). It became Argentina's first national park in 1934 and has an area of 2,927 square miles (7,581 square km). The park and adjacent nature reserve include a region

Felix Iii (or Ii), Saint

2005-02-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

Pope from 483 to 492. He succeeded St. Simplicius on March 13. Felix excommunicated Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, in 484 for publishing with the emperor Zeno a document called the Henotikon, which appeared to favour Monophysitism, a doctrine that had been denounced at the Council of Chalcedon (451). The excommunication created the 35-year Acacian