Gadfly Petrel

Any of several species of petrels distinguished from others by their fluttering type of flight. See petrel.

Smith, Charlotte

English novelist and poet, highly praised by the novelist Sir Walter Scott. Her poetic attitude toward nature was reminiscent of William Cowper's in celebrating the “ordinary” pleasures of the English countryside. Her radical attitudes toward conventional morality (the novel Desmond tells of the innocent

Hardness Tester

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

Insectivore, Metabolism

Although insectivoran physiology has been studied in connection with special abilities, such as dormancy in hedgehogs, it is not well-known for the order. Of great interest are the smaller shrews, which, because of their minute size and relatively large ratio of body surface to volume, have an exceptionally high rate of metabolism, necessitated by the high rate of

Bottrop

City, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies at the northern edge of the Ruhr industrial region, on the Rhine-Herne Canal, northwest of Essen. Although mentioned in the Middle Ages, it remained a small peasant community until coal was discovered there in the latter part of the 19th century. Most of its churches and public buildings date from after

Mammal, Natural history

The hallmarks of the mammalian level of organization are advanced reproduction and parental care, behavioral flexibility, and endothermy (the physiological maintenance of a relatively constant body temperature independent of that of the environment, allowing a high level of activity). Within the class, ecological diversity has resulted from adaptive specialization

Philip Iii

Philip was the son of Philip II of Spain by his fourth consort, his Habsburg cousin Anna

Hachioji

After

Nivkh

The Nivkh economy was traditionally based

Lateen Sail

Triangular sail that was of decisive importance to medieval navigation. The ancient square sail permitted sailing only before the wind; the lateen was the earliest fore-and-aft sail. The triangular sail was affixed to a long yard or crossbar, mounted at its middle to the top of the mast and angled to extend aft far above the mast and forward down nearly to the deck. The

Melanchthon, Philipp

Original name  Philipp Schwartzerd (German: “Black Earth”; in Greek, Melanchthon)   German author of the Confession of Augsburg of the Lutheran Church (1530), humanist, Reformer, theologian, and educator. He was a friend of Martin Luther and defended his views. In 1521 Melanchthon published the Loci communes, the first systematic treatment of evangelical doctrine. Because of his academic