FertileTrain

Ren Essential Moroccan Rose Oil

2006-12-07T00:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most amazing natural bath oils I have used. It is a rich, sensuous and luxurious. Only a small amount of the Moroccan Otto Rose Oil in the bath will fill the room with this incredible smell. This rose oil really penetrates the skin during the bath leaving it soft as silk and with the beatiful scent of the rose oil

Lupercalia

2005-04-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ancient Roman festival that was conducted annually on February 15 under the superintendence of a corporation of priests called Luperci. The origins of the festival are obscure, although the likely derivation of its name from lupus (Latin: “wolf”) has variously suggested connection with a primitive deity who protected herds from wolves and with the legendary she-wolf

Shu Ching

2005-04-04T04:36:00.000-07:00

The Shu Ching consists of 58 chapters. Of these, 33 (originally

Aqueous Humour

2005-04-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

Watery, alkaline liquid that occupies the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye—the space in front of the iris and lens and the ringlike space encircling the lens. The aqueous humour resembles blood plasma in composition, but contains much less protein, less glucose, more lactic acid, and much more ascorbic acid. Aqueous humour is formed from the blood by filtration

Cytoplasm

2005-04-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

The protoplasm of a cell external to the nuclear membrane. In eukaryotes (i.e., cells having a nucleus), the cytoplasm contains all of the organelles except for the nucleus itself. Among such organelles are the mitochondria, which are the sites of energy production through ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthesis; the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of lipid and protein

Cultural Anthropology

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

A major division of anthropology that deals with the study of culture in all of its aspects and that uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world.

Abolitionism

2005-04-01T04:04:00.000-08:00

Also called abolition movement (c. 1783–1888), in western Europe and the Americas, the movement chiefly responsible for creating the emotional climate necessary for ending the transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery. With the decline of Roman slavery in the 5th century, the institution waned in western Europe and by the 11th century had virtually disappeared. Portuguese exploration of the west coast

Sicilian Vespers

2005-03-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

(1282) massacre of the French with which the Sicilians began their revolt against Charles I, Angevin king of Naples and Sicily; it precipitated a French-Aragonese struggle for possession of that kingdom. Its name derives from a riot that took place in a church outside Palermo at the hour of vespers on Easter Monday, March 30, 1282. Peter III of Aragon, Charles's rival for the Neapolitan

English Literature, Secular prose

2005-03-31T02:11:00.000-08:00

Secular compositions and translations in prose also came into prominence in the last quarter of the 14th century, though their stylistic accomplishment does not always match that of the religious tradition. Chaucer's “Tale of Melibeus” and his two astronomical translations, the Treatise on the Astrolabe and the Equatorie of the Planetis, were relatively modest

Pyralid Moth

2005-03-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

Cosmopolitan

Yeshiva University

2005-03-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in New York, New York, U.S. It is a comprehensive research university comprising six undergraduate schools and seven graduate or professional schools at the Main Campus in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, the Midtown Center in Manhattan's Murray Hill area, the Brookdale Center on Fifth Avenue in

Sicilian Vespers

2005-03-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

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

Tibet, Plant and animal life

2005-03-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

The windswept Ch'iang-t'ang is devoid of trees and larger forms of vegetation. Its arid climate supports little except grasses. The varied plant life of Tibet is found in the river valleys and in the lower, wetter regions of the south and southeast. Plant life includes willows, poplars, several types of conifers, teak, rhododendrons, oaks, birches, elms, bamboo, sugarcane,

Levine, Jack

2005-03-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

Trained first at the Jewish Welfare Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and later at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Levine also studied at Harvard University from 1929 to 1931. From 1935 to 1940 he was intermittently part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Kuhn, Adalbert

2005-03-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

Kuhn first devoted himself to the study of German stories and legends, but he established

Gnateater

2005-03-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

Any of certain bird species (genus Conopophaga) usually classified with the antbirds. See antbird; antpipit.

A'sha, Al-

2005-03-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

Al-A'sha spent his youth in travels through Mesopotamia,

Ramiro Ii

2005-03-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

King of Leon and Asturias in Christian Spain from 931 to 951. The second son of King Ordoño II, he became king on the abdication of his elder brother, Alfonso IV. Ramiro was an exceptional general who scored several major victories (e.g., the Battle of Simancas, 939) over the caliphate of Córdoba in Muslim Spain. In 944 he negotiated a five-year truce with the caliph 'Abd

Nabulus

2005-03-23T00:59:00.000-08:00

Shechem, a Canaanite city, was important in ancient Palestine because of its position in an east–west pass between

Muhammadiyah

2005-03-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Socioreligious organization in Indonesia, established in 1912 at Jogjakarta, aimed at adapting Islam to modern Indonesian life. The organization was chiefly inspired by an Egyptian reform movement, led by Muhammad 'Abduh, that had tried to bring the Muslim faith into harmony with modern rational thought. The Muhammadiyah advocated the abolition of all superstitious

Jaurès, (auguste-marie-joseph-)jean

2005-03-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

French socialist leader, cofounder of the newspaper L'Humanité, and member of the French Chamber of Deputies (1885–89, 1893–98, 1902–14); he achieved the unification of several factions into a single socialist party, the Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière. During the war fever of July 1914, he was assassinated by a young fanatic who believed that Jaurès's pacifism

Yamoussoukro

2005-03-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

Town and capital (de jure; administrative), south-central Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), located about 170 miles (274 km) northwest of the national capital, Abidjan. For more than three decades after Côte d'Ivoire achieved independence in 1960, Yamoussoukro served as the country's “second capital” because it was the birthplace, home, and unofficial headquarters of President Félix

New Apostolic Church

2005-03-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

Church organized in Germany in 1863 as the Universal Catholic Church, by members of the Catholic Apostolic Church who believed that new apostles must be appointed to replace deceased apostles and rule the church until the Second Coming of Christ. The present name was adopted in 1906. Its doctrines are similar to the parent church, but the new church was influenced by continental

Muhammadiyah

2005-03-20T23:33:00.000-08:00

Military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Marxist-Leninist (CPP-ML), which is a Communist organization dedicated to achieving power in the Philippines by means of revolutionary insurrection. The CPP-ML was originally a Maoist faction that broke away from the largely passive, Soviet-oriented Philippine Communist Party in 1968–69 and formed the New People's

Bokassa, Jean-bédel

2005-03-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

African military officer and political leader (b. Feb. 22, 1921, Bobangui, Oubangui-Chari, French Equatorial Africa [now in Central African Republic]--d. Nov. 3, 1996, Bangui, Central African Republic), was president of the Central African Republic (1966-77) and self-styled emperor of the Central African Empire (1977-79). His rule was characterized by brutality and greed. After the assassination of his father,

Arabian Desert

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

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

Chase, Samuel

2005-03-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

A member of the Maryland assembly (1764–84) and the Continental Congress (1774–78, 1784–85), and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chase served

Nitrate

2005-03-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

Any member of either of two classes of compounds derived from nitric acid. The salts of nitric acid are ionic compounds containing the nitrate ion, NO-3, and a positive ion, such as NH+4 in ammonium nitrate. Esters of nitric acid are covalent compounds having the structure R-O-NO2, in which R represents an organic combining group, such as ethyl (C2H5) in ethyl nitrate. See also nitro

Business Finance, Term loans

2005-03-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

A term loan is a business credit with a maturity of more than 1 year but less than 15 years. Usually the term loan is retired by systematic repayments (amortization payments) over its life. It may be secured by a chattel mortgage on equipment, but larger, stronger companies are able to borrow on an unsecured basis. Commercial banks and life insurance companies are the principal

Arts, Central Asian, RussianSoviet period

2005-03-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

In 1882 the emirate of Bukhara was incorporated as a Russian state. This political act had little cultural effect, and European art remained unknown to Central Asians. Traditional indigenous architecture of baked or unbaked brick construction was revived in the 18th century. Carved doors and screens were again produced. Old styles of Islamic script were combined with

Duchesne, André

2005-03-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

Duchesne was educated at Loudun and Paris and devoted his early years to studies in history and geography. His first work, Egregiarum seu Selectarum Lectionum et Antiquitatum

Ezion-geber

2005-03-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

Modern Tall al-Khalifah seaport of Solomon and the later kings of Judah, located at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba in what is now Ma'an muhafazah (governorate), Jordan. The site was found independently by archaeologists Fritz Frank and Nelson Glueck. Glueck's excavations (1938–40) proved that the site had been a fortified settlement surrounded by strong walls from the 10th to the 4th century BC. It was almost

Performing Arts, Jazz

2005-03-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

The music of Duke Ellington, one of the greatest jazz composers, dominated the jazz scene in 1999. The centennial of his birth was celebrated worldwide at festivals, concerts, and nightclubs and prompted a proliferation of recorded tributes by singers and instrumentalists. On April 29, Ellington's birthday, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, led by Wynton Marsalis, played

Fabales

2005-03-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

Legumes occur in all terrestrial habitats occupied by plants, although the greatest number of species is in the tropics, where the group probably originated. But there are many legumes in the temperate plains, woodlands, and deserts. A few not only survive but succeed as weeds, in the human-made farming, industrial, and urban environment. They are less common in the northern

France, History Of, Society and culture under the Third Republic

2005-03-14T01:36:00.000-08:00

Under the Third Republic the middle and lower sectors of society came to share political and social dominance with the rich notables. Universal suffrage gave them a new political weapon; France's peculiar socioeconomic structure gave them political weight.

Chelsea

2005-03-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

The city's economy was severely affected by the economic recession of the 1980s, and Chelsea was placed

Coin, Switzerland

2005-03-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

The coinage of Switzerland illustrates its varying fortunes. First there was the gold money of the Merovingian kings, among whose mints were Basel, Lausanne, St. Maurice-en-Valais, and Sitten (Sion). The silver deniers that Charlemagne made the coinage of the empire were issued by fewer mints. The dukes of Swabia began to strike at Zürich in the 10th century, and the empire

Fairfield

2005-03-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

In the mid-18th century the area's favourable climate

Allgemeine Enzyklopädie Der Wissenschaften Und Künste

2005-03-12T06:20:00.000-08:00

(German: “Universal Encyclopaedia of Sciences and Arts”), monumental uncompleted German encyclopaedia of which 167 volumes were published from 1818 to 1889. Founded by a German bibliographer, Johann Samuel Ersch, who began work on it in 1813, the Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste is noteworthy for containing the longest known encyclopaedia article—the article

Jane

2005-03-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

Chicago-based women's collective that provided more than 11,000 safe albeit illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973. The underground clinic, a small branch of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, strove to strengthen the pro-choice movement and abolish expensive, unsafe, and callously performed abortion services. They did so by providing medically sound, low-cost abortions at

Fylde

2005-03-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

Borough (district), administrative and historic county of Lancashire, England. It lies on the north bank of the estuary of the River Ribble at the Irish Sea, just east of the resort of Blackpool. Fylde borough is part of the Fylde geographic region, a low coastal plain 18 miles (29 km) wide between the Ribble and Morecambe Bay to the north. It is an area of undulating terrain containing

Pietas

2005-03-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, personification of a respectful and faithful attachment to gods, country, and relatives, especially parents. Pietas had a temple at Rome, dedicated in 181 BC, and was often represented on coins as a female figure carrying a palm branch and a sceptre or as a matron casting incense upon an altar, sometimes accompanied by a stork, the symbol of filial piety.

Qatar

2005-03-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

A monarchy (emirate) on the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar occupies a desert peninsula and the nearby small Hawar Islands (also claimed by Bahrain) on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. Area (including Hawar Islands): 11,427 sq km (4,412 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 590,000. Cap.: Doha. Monetary unit: Qatar riyal, with (Oct. 11, 1996) an official rate of 3.64 riyals to U.S. $1 (5.73 riyals = £1 sterling). Emir and prime minister in 1996, Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifah

Switzerland

2005-03-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

With its economy in good shape and a substantial budget surplus expected, Switzerland sailed through the year 2000. The nation's exports, particularly pharmaceuticals and watches, benefited from the strong dollar. While strains were experienced in some industrial sectors, average unemployment remained under 3%. Despite a sharp rise in fuel prices, long lines at filling

Dielectric Heating

2005-03-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Capacitance Heating, method by which the temperature of an electrically nonconducting (insulating) material can be raised by subjecting the material to a high-frequency electromagnetic field. The method is widely employed industrially for heating thermosetting glues, for drying lumber and other fibrous materials, for preheating plastics before molding, and for fast jelling and

Gai Saber

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

Old Provençal: “gay knowledge” or “gay science” the art of composing love poetry; especially the art of the Provençal troubadours as set forth in a 14th-century work called the Leys d'amors. The Old Provençal phrase gai saber is associated with the Consistòri del Gai Saber, originally the Sobregaya compannia dels VII Trobadors de Tolosa (“Very Gay Company of the Seven Troubadours of Toulouse”), a group of seven citizens

Indexation

2005-03-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

In fiscal policy, a means of offsetting the effect of inflation or deflation on social security payments and taxes by measuring the “real value” of money from a fixed point of reference, usually a price index. Without indexing, recipients of social security benefits, for example, would suffer during times of inflation if their benefits remained at a fixed rate. Indexation

Rasmussen, Poul Nyrup

2005-03-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

When Prime Minister Poul Schlüter was forced from office by Denmark's ongoing "Tamilgate" affair on Jan. 14, 1993, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the leader of the Social Democrats, was faced not only with the challenge of forming a new government but also with the task of overseeing Denmark's key second referendum on the Maastricht Treaty. Furthermore, the country had just taken over

Auchincloss, Louis

2005-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

Auchincloss studied at Yale University from 1935 to 1939 and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1941. He was admitted to the New York state bar that same year and began a legal career that would last

Dulany, Daniel

2005-03-06T22:56:00.000-08:00

Daniel Dulany went to Maryland in 1703, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1709. He soon became prominent and wealthy from his legal practice. A year after Dulany moved to Annapolis, he was elected to represent the town in the Maryland Assembly. At first, Dulany became

Renkum

2005-03-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Gemeente (commune), Gelderland provincie, central Netherlands. Renkum is situated on the Lower Rhine (Neder Rijn) River, immediately west of Arnhem, and comprises the communities of Oosterbeek (the local government centre), Renkum, Doorwerth, Heelsum, and Wolfheze. The locality was especially associated with the Battle of Arnhem in World War II; on the Oosterbeek village

Mon

2005-03-05T23:13:00.000-08:00

Town, northern Nagaland state, northeastern India. The town was occupied by the British in 1889 and designated a subdivisional headquarters; it was the scene of guerrilla activity until the formation of Nagaland state in 1963. The town has many traditional cottage industries and is noted for its weaving. It also trades in bay leaf. A cottage industries training and production

Hardness Tester

2005-03-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

Brinell hardness is determined by forcing a hardened steel or carbide ball of known diameter under a known load into a surface and measuring the diameter of the

Nanshe

2005-03-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

In Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian city goddess of Nina (modern Surghul, Iraq) in the southeastern part of the Lagash region of Mesopotamia. According to tradition, Nanshe's father Enki (Akkadian: Ea) organized the universe and placed her in charge of fish and fishing. Nanshe was also described as a divine soothsayer and dream interpreter. Although at times overshadowed

Cronstedt, Axel Fredrik

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

Cronstedt was the first

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

2005-03-02T23:53:00.000-08:00

From 1930 through 1932, Didrikson was a member of the women's All-America basketball team. During the same period she also won eight events and tied in a ninth in national championship competition

Induan Stage

2005-03-02T02:20:00.000-08:00

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

O'brien, Fitz-james

2005-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

O'Brien was the son of a lawyer. He ran through his inheritance in two years in London, where he began to work in journalism. In 1852 he moved

Philip Ii

2005-03-01T06:21:00.000-08:00

Byname Philip Of Macedon 18th king of Macedonia (359–336 BC), who restored internal peace to his country and then, by 339, had gained domination over all Greece by military and diplomatic means, thus laying the foundations for its expansion under his son Alexander III the Great.

Malacca, Strait Of

2005-03-01T01:47:00.000-08:00

Waterway connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean). It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and West Malaysia and peninsular Thailand to the east and has an area of 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km). The strait is 500 miles (800 km) long and is funnel-shaped, with a width of only 40 miles (65 km) in the south that broadens northward to 155 miles

Azerbaijan, Industry

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

Azerbaijan has a diversified industrial base, with the leading branches of heavy industry—power, manufacturing, and chemical production—predominating. Branches of the processing industry, producing mineral fertilizers, gasoline, kerosene, herbicides, industrial oils, synthetic rubber, and plastics, have developed, and Sumqayit has emerged as the major centre

Nivkh Language

2005-02-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

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

Giraldus Cambrensis

2005-02-27T00:49:00.000-08:00

Of noble

Light Verse

2005-02-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Greeks were among the first to practice

Paul-boncour, Joseph

2005-02-26T07:31:00.000-08:00

After receiving a degree in law from the University of Paris, Paul-Boncour practiced law, organized the legal council of the Bourses du Travail (syndicalist workers'

Wagner, Richard

2005-02-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

For a realistic analysis of Wagner's complex character, see Ernest Newman, The Life of Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1933–47). Ronald Taylor, Richard Wagner: The Life, Art and Thought (1979), emphasizes the historical background of his life; Charles Osborne, Wagner and His World (1977), is a brief introductory biography. Important sources include The Diary of Richard Wagner, ed. by Joachim Bergfeld (1980); Cosima Wagner's Diaries, ed. by Martin Gregor-Dellin and Dietrich Mack (1978– ); and Wagner's Mein Leben, 2 vol. (1870–81; Eng. trans., My Life, 1911). See also the official German and English biographies by C.F. Glasenapp, Das Leben Richard Wagners, 6 vol. (1894–1911); and W.A. Ellis, Life of Richard Wagner, 6 vol. (1900–08). Robert W. Gutman, Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind and His Music (1968), is a largely hostile biography. An analytical introduction to Wagner's music dramas is Ernest Newman, The Wagner Operas (1949; republished with the title Wagner Nights, 1950). A detailed study of Wagner's development as a musical dramatist is Jack M. Stein, Richard Wagner and the Synthesis of the Arts (1960). A.O. Lorenz, Das Geheimnis der Form bei Richard Wagner, 4 vol. (1924–33), provides an exhaustive bar-by-bar analysis of the musical construction of his major works. George Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite, 4th ed. (1922, reprinted 1967), which has much of value to say about the social, political, and economic ideas behind The Ring; Jungian interpretation of the same work is Robert Donington, Wagner's Ring and Its Symbols, 2nd ed. (1969).

Ambrose, Stephen Edward

2005-02-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

American biographer and historian (b. Jan. 10, 1936, Decatur, Ill.—d. Oct. 13, 2002, Bay St. Louis, Miss.), wrote some three dozen books on U.S. history. His later works were populist in tone, celebrating the achievements of ordinary people. In 2002 he was accused of plagiarism, but in his defense he argued that he had cited sources for his material. Ambrose earned a B.S. degree in history from the University

Spring Of Khosrow Carpet

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

Also called Winter of Khosrow Carpet ancient Persian carpet, possibly the most costly and magnificent of all time, made for the Ctesiphon palace of the Sasanian king Khosrow I (reigned AD 531–579). Described in the historical annals of the Muslim scholar at-Tabari, it became the model for subsequent Garden carpets. The carpet was called the Spring of Khosrow because it represented, in silk, gold, silver, and jewels, the splendour

Port Hawkesbury

2005-02-24T03:43:00.000-08:00

Town, Inverness county, northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies along the Strait of Canso, at the southern end of Cape Breton Island, 36 miles (58 km) east of Antigonish. Originally called Ship Harbour, the town was renamed in 1860, possibly for Charles Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury (1729–1808). It was a transportation hub, serving as the island terminus for the rail and highway ferries to the

Insurance, Indirect losses

2005-02-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

An entirely different branch of the insurance business has been developed to insure losses that are indirectly the result of one of the specified perils. A prominent example of this type of insurance is business income insurance. The insurer undertakes to reimburse the insured for lost profits or for fixed charges incurred as a result of direct damage. For example,

Koraput

2005-02-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Most of the people of the surrounding area live in tribal communities and are engaged in agriculture, with rice, sugarcane, and oilseeds the biggest crops. The region also has rich mineral deposits, including

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

2005-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

In the earlier and unsystematically speculative phases of Renaissance philosophy, the claims of Aristotelian logic to yield substantial knowledge were attacked by several 16th-century logicians, and, in the same century, the role of observation was stressed. One mildly skeptical Christian thinker, Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), advanced a deliberate revival of the empirical

Fiction

2005-02-22T01:46:00.000-08:00

Literature created from the imagination, not presented as fact, though it may be based on a true story or situation. Types of literature in the fiction genre include the novel, short story, and novella. The word is from the Latin fictio, “the act of making, fashioning, or molding.”

Metallic Fibre

2005-02-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

In textiles, synthetic fibre, known generically as metallic, including manufactured fibres composed of metal, metal-coated plastic, or of a core covered by metal (usually aluminum). Trademarked names include Chromeflex, Lurex, and Melora. Foil types are made with a metal foil that is coated with a plain or coloured plastic film and then cut into strips. Metallized types

Bradley, Edward Riley

2005-02-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

As a boy, Bradley worked in steel mills, then went to the Southwest, where he became a cowboy and fought Indians and was briefly a miner before he turned to gambling, which became a lifelong passion. Before the turn of the century,

White, Minor

2005-02-20T04:53:00.000-08:00

White took up photography while very young but set it aside for a number of years to study botany and, later, poetry. He began to photograph seriously

Hinduism, The Brahmanas and Aranyakas

2005-02-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Attached to each Samhita was a collection of explanations of the rituals, called a Brahmana, which often relied on mythology to trace the origins and importance of individual ritual acts. Although they were not manuals or handbooks in the manner of the later Srauta Sutras, the Brahmanas do contain some detail about the performance and meaning of Vedic sacrificial rituals

Arzew

2005-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Arzeu, port town, northwestern Algeria. Arzew lies near the mouth of the Wadi Mehgoun. Its natural harbour on the Mediterranean is sheltered by a mountainous promontory between the gulfs of Oran and Arzew. Arzew was an Almohad port in the 1100s. It was visited by Italian merchants in the 14th and 15th centuries and was captured and fortified by the Turks in the 16th. Occupied by the Algerian

Sankt Gallen

2005-02-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

French Saint-gall, canton, northeastern Switzerland, bounded north by Lake Constance (Bodensee); east by the Rhine Valley, which separates it from the Austrian Vorarlberg Bundesland (federal state) and from Liechtenstein; south by the cantons of Graubünden, Glarus, and Schwyz; west by the canton of Zürich; and northwest by the canton of Thurgau. Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden and Appenzell Inner-Rhoden

Trainer

2005-02-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

In military aviation, an airplane that is designed and used to train pilots to operate advanced aircraft effectively. The complicated modern military airplane requires a high degree of skill on the part of pilots. Military training programs commonly make use of a single-engine aircraft for primary training phases, with twin-jet trainers for transition

Later Ly Dynasty

2005-02-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese Nha Hau Ly (1009–1225), first of the three great dynasties of Vietnam. The kingdom, known later as Dai Viet, was established by Ly Thai To in the Red River Delta area of present northern Vietnam. Its capital was Thang Long (Hanoi). (It is “later” with respect to the Earlier Ly dynasty, founded by Ly Bon and lasting from 544 to 602/603.) The Later Ly was the first stable Vietnamese dynasty and helped establish many

Smorgasbord

2005-02-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

Swedish Smörgåsbord, in Swedish cuisine, buffet offering a variety of fish, cheeses, and hot and cold dishes. In the country districts of Sweden, it was customary for guests to contribute to the fare at large gatherings. The foods were set out on long tables from which the diners helped themselves. By the 18th century, festive meals were preceded by appetizers from a bannvinsbord, offering aquavit,

Algeria, World War II and the movement for independence

2005-02-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

World War II brought with it the collapse of France and, in 1942, the Anglo-American occupation of North Africa. The occupation forces were to some extent automatically agents of emancipation; both Allied and Axis radio stations began to broadcast in Arabic, promising a new world for formerly subject peoples. The effect was further heightened by the June 1941 promise of emancipation

Cohen, Albert

2005-02-16T15:36:00.000-08:00

From 1900 Cohen was reared in Marseilles, France. He studied law in Geneva, became a Swiss citizen, and began a career as a writer and as a civil servant, notably with the International Labour Organisation

Gonionemus

2005-02-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

Genus of small marine jellyfish of the hydrozoan order Limnomedusae (phylum Cnidaria). Gonionemus species are bell-shaped and measure about 15 mm (0.6 inch) or more in diameter. From the centre of the bell hangs the manubrium, a tubular structure that contains the mouth, and around the bell's rim are hollow tentacles armed with stinging structures called nematocysts. Each

Lagerlöf, Selma

2005-02-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

An illness left her lame for a time, but otherwise her childhood was happy. She was taught at home, then trained in Stockholm as a teacher, and in 1885 went to Landskrona as schoolmistress. There she wrote her first novel, Gösta Berlings

Diffraction Grating

2005-02-15T05:36:00.000-08:00

Component of optical devices consisting of a surface ruled with close, equidistant, and parallel lines for the purpose of resolving light into spectra. A grating is said to be a transmission or reflection grating according to whether it is transparent or mirrored—that is, whether it is ruled on glass or on a thin metal film deposited on a glass blank. Reflection gratings

Earth, Shock-heating of the Earth during accretion

2005-02-14T07:19:00.000-08:00

During accretion the planet is thought to have been shock-heated by the impacts of meteoritic and planetesimal bodies. For meteorites this heating is concentrated near the surface (where the impacts occur), which is cooled by radiation back into space. The Russian planetary physicist V.S. Safronov has pointed out, however, that the larger planetesimals can penetrate

Fish-finder

2005-02-14T03:24:00.000-08:00

Also called Netsonde, in commercial fishing, high-frequency sonar device for locating schools of fish. It transmits sound waves downward and receives echoes from the bottom of the sea, or from intervening schools of fish, also indicating distance from ship to fish. Two different types are used, one of which is a simple “echo sounder” that points directly downward from the ship and indicates

Moses

2005-02-13T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hebrew Moshe Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who, in the 13th century BCE (before the Common Era, or BC), delivered his people from Egyptian slavery. In the Covenant ceremony at Mt. Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were promulgated, he founded the religious community known as Israel. As the interpreter of these Covenant stipulations, he was the organizer of the community's

Iridium

2005-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

(Ir), chemical element, one of the platinum metals of Group VIII of the periodic table. It is very dense and rare and is used in platinum alloys. A precious, silver-white metal, iridium is hard and brittle, but it becomes ductile and can be worked at a white heat, from 1,200° to 1,500° C (2,200° to 2,700° F). It is one of the densest terrestrial substances. In the massive state the metal is practically insoluble

Denkyera

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

Also spelled Denkyira major 17th-century kingdom of the southern Akan peoples, situated in the forested hinterland of modern Ghana's southwestern coast. According to tradition, its kings migrated from the area of the northern Akan or Brong. By the end of the 17th century they had subjugated the Twifo and the Akan subjects of Axim (to the south), had taken over the rich gold-bearing districts of

Atlantic Ocean

2005-02-13T02:28:00.000-08:00

The Atlantic is, generally speaking, S-shaped and narrow in relation

Monarch Butterfly

2005-02-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

(Danaus plexippus), a familiar member of the milkweed butterfly family Danaidae (order Lepidoptera), distributed throughout the world but concentrated mainly in North, Central, and South America. The monarch's wingspan averages 90 to 100 millimetres (about 4 inches). The distinctive coloration of the reddish-brown wings, marked by black veins and a black

Sawhaj

2005-02-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Sohag, or Suhag, town and capital of Sawhaj muhafazah (governorate) in the Nile River valley of Upper Egypt. The town is located on the Nile's western bank between Asyut and Jirja, immediately across from Akhmim on the eastern bank. It has cotton-ginning, textile-weaving, and food-processing factories. Automobile parts are distributed, and it is a centre for vehicle repair. The Sawhaj Institute

Apricot

2005-02-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

(Prunus armeniaca), stone fruit of the family Rosaceae that is cultivated throughout the temperate regions of the world. Apricots are eaten fresh or cooked and are preserved by canning or drying. The fruit is also widely made into jam and is often used to flavour liqueurs. Apricot trees are large and spreading with broad, ovate leaves that have pointed

Ba'al Shem Tov

2005-02-10T06:30:00.000-08:00

Dov Baer, Shivhé ha-Besht (1814), is the earliest collection of legends (in Hebrew) about the Ba'al Shem Tov. Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome R. Mintz (eds. and trans.), In Praise of Baal Shem Tov (1970), offers an English translation of Dov Baer's legends, based upon the 1814 edition. Meyer Levin, The Golden Mountain (1932); and Martin Buber, Die Legende des Baalschem (1932; The Legend of the Baal-Shem, 1955), retell with literary flair the legends of the Ba'al Shem Tov. Salomo Birnbaum, Leben und Worte des Baalschem (1920; The Life and Sayings of the Baal Shem, 1933), contains excerpts from the writings and teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov.

Scandinavian Literature, Skaldic verse

2005-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Norwegians and Icelanders of the 9th to the 13th century also composed skaldic poetry (from the Icelandic word skáld, “poet”). It was not composed in the free variable metres of the Poetic Edda but was strictly syllabic: every syllable had to be counted and every line had to end in a given form. Like Eddaic lines, the skaldic lines were joined in pairs by alliteration, often using

Table Tennis

2005-02-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

Invented in England in the early days of the 20th century, the game was originally called Ping-Pong, a trade name. The name table tennis was adopted in 1921–22 when the old Ping-Pong Association formed in 1902 was revived. The original association had broken up about 1905, though apparently the game continued to be played in parts of England outside London and by the 1920s was being played in

Küçük Kaynarca, Treaty Of

2005-02-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

The territorial provisions of the treaty extended the Russian frontier to the southern Bug River,

FertileTrain

Ren Essential Moroccan Rose Oil

Lupercalia

Shu Ching

Aqueous Humour

Cytoplasm

Cultural Anthropology

Abolitionism

Sicilian Vespers

English Literature, Secular prose

Pyralid Moth

Yeshiva University

Sicilian Vespers

Tibet, Plant and animal life

Levine, Jack

Kuhn, Adalbert

Gnateater

A'sha, Al-

Ramiro Ii

Nabulus

Muhammadiyah

Jaurès, (auguste-marie-joseph-)jean

Yamoussoukro

New Apostolic Church

Muhammadiyah

Bokassa, Jean-bédel

Arabian Desert

Chase, Samuel

Nitrate

Business Finance, Term loans

Arts, Central Asian, RussianSoviet period

Duchesne, André

Ezion-geber

Performing Arts, Jazz

Fabales

France, History Of, Society and culture under the Third Republic

Chelsea

Coin, Switzerland

Fairfield

Allgemeine Enzyklopädie Der Wissenschaften Und Künste

Jane

Fylde

Pietas

Qatar

Switzerland

Dielectric Heating

Gai Saber

Indexation

Rasmussen, Poul Nyrup

Auchincloss, Louis

Dulany, Daniel

Renkum

Mon

Hardness Tester

Nanshe

Cronstedt, Axel Fredrik

Zaharias, Babe Didrikson

Induan Stage

O'brien, Fitz-james

Philip Ii

Malacca, Strait Of

Azerbaijan, Industry

Nivkh Language

Giraldus Cambrensis

Light Verse

Paul-boncour, Joseph

Wagner, Richard

Ambrose, Stephen Edward

Spring Of Khosrow Carpet

Port Hawkesbury

Insurance, Indirect losses

Koraput

Empiricism, In modern philosophy

Fiction

Metallic Fibre

Bradley, Edward Riley

White, Minor

Hinduism, The Brahmanas and Aranyakas

Arzew

Sankt Gallen

Arts, Central Asian, RussianSoviet period