NaturalFloor

Gadfly Petrel

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

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

Smith, Charlotte

2005-04-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

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

2005-04-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

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

Insectivore, Metabolism

2005-04-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

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

2005-04-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-31T23:31:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-31T13:20:00.000-08:00

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

Hachioji

2005-03-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

After

Nivkh

2005-03-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

The Nivkh economy was traditionally based

Lateen Sail

2005-03-28T00:46:00.000-08:00

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

2005-03-27T10:41:00.000-08:00

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

Fair Labor Standards Act

2005-03-26T06:47:00.000-08:00

Also called Wages and Hours Act the first act in the United States prescribing nationwide compulsory federal regulation of wages and hours, sponsored by Sen. Robert F. Wagner of New York and signed on June 14, 1938, effective October 24. The law, applying to all industries engaged in interstate commerce, established a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour for the first year, to be increased to 40 cents within seven years.

çanakkale

2005-03-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Turkey, at the mouth of Koca River (the ancient Rhodius River), on the Asian side of the Dardanelles. Originally a 15th-century Ottoman fortress called Kale-i Sultaniye, it had by the 18th century developed a reputation for its pottery, whence its name (Turkish çanak, “pot,” and kale, “fortress”). The pottery industry reached its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries and

Amar Das

2005-03-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Third Sikh Guru, appointed at the advanced age of 73, noted for his division of the Punjab into 22 Sikh dioceses and his dispatch of missionaries to spread the faith. Realizing that periodical meetings of all Sikhs would strengthen the faith, he ordered three great festivals a year. He was much revered for his wisdom and piety, and it was said that even

Piperazine

2005-03-24T02:26:00.000-08:00

Also called hexahydropyrazine anthelmintic drug used in the treatment of intestinal roundworm infection in humans and domestic animals (including poultry) and against pinworm infection in humans. It is administered orally, in repeated doses, usually as the citrate salt. Its action causes worms to be paralyzed and then eliminated in the stool.

Amorphous Solid, Other preparation techniques

2005-03-23T16:12:00.000-08:00

Numerous other methods exist for preparing amorphous solids, and new methods are continually invented. In melt spinning, a jet of molten metal is propelled against the moving surface of a cold, rotating copper cylinder. A solid film of metallic glass is spun off as a continuous ribbon at a speed that can exceed a kilometre per minute. In laser glazing, a brief intense

Mitscher, Marc A.

2005-03-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

Early

Honolulu

2005-03-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

Capital and principal port of Hawaii, U.S., seat of Honolulu county. A modern city, it extends about 10 miles (16 km) along the southeastern shore of Oahu Island and 4 miles (6 km) inland across a plain into the Koolau Mountain foothills. It is the crossroads of trans-Pacific shipping and air routes, the focus of interisland services, and the commercial and industrial centre of the

Agora

2005-03-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greek cities, an open space that served as a meeting ground for various activities of the citizens. The name, first found in the works of Homer, connotes both the assembly of the people as well as the physical setting; it was applied by the classical Greeks of the 5th century BC to what they regarded as a typical feature of their life: their daily religious, political,

Performing Arts, Far East.

2005-03-21T02:21:00.000-08:00

A few Japanese films stood out from the commercial run. In Dolls, Takeshi Kitano linked three contemporary love stories inspired by the traditional bunraku doll theatre. Kitano's own early career in vaudeville was imaginatively chronicled by Makoto Shinozaki in Asakusa Kid. Akira Kurosawa's former assistant Takashi Koizumi adapted a novel by Keishi Nagi and

Salamanca

2005-03-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

As an important Iberian settlement, it was ravaged by the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 217 BC. A Roman

Yukon River, Plant and animal life

2005-03-19T04:38:00.000-08:00

Coniferous forests grow to low height and low densities across the valley floors and lower mountain slopes of the Yukon River basin. The upper tree line is at an elevation of about 3,500 to 4,500 feet, depending on local exposure and drainage; thus, about two-thirds of mountainous Yukon Territory is treeless. The largest stands of potentially commercial forest are along the

Udmurtiya

2005-03-19T00:56:00.000-08:00

From the republic's highest point, a low (1,080 feet [330 m]) outlier of the Ural Mountains

Cro-magnon

2005-03-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

In 1868 in a shallow cave at Cro-Magnon in the Dordogne area of southern France, a number of obviously ancient human skeletons were found. The cave was investigated by the French geologist Louis Lartet, who uncovered five archaeological layers. The human bones found

Wildenvey, Herman

2005-03-17T23:09:00.000-08:00

When in 1904 the steamer Norge wrecked on a trip to the United States, with 600 or more passengers aboard, Wildenvey was among the few who survived. After returning to Norway from three years in America, where he had studied

Abalone

2005-03-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

Any of several marine snails of the subclass Prosobranchia (class Gastropoda) constituting the genus Haliotis and family Haliotidae, in which the shell has a row of holes on its outer surface. Abalones are one-shelled snails found in warm seas worldwide. The dishlike shell is perforated near one edge by a single row of small holes that become progressively

Saint-jean-sur-richelieu

2005-03-16T04:23:00.000-08:00

Also called Saint-Jean city, Montérégie region, southern Quebec province, Canada, on the west bank of the Richelieu River, opposite Iberville. Its site, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Montreal city, was first occupied by Fort-Saint-Jean, built in 1666 and reconstructed in 1748 and 1775. The city became a trading centre on major roads, the Chambly Canal (linking Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence River), and Canada's first

Hooch, Pieter De

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

Hooch was a pupil of Claes Berchem at Haarlem. From 1653 he was in the service of Justus de Grange and lived in Delft, The Hague, and Leiden. From 1654 to 1657 he was a member of the painters' guild of Delft, but after that date there are no traces of his career until about 1667, when

Pyroelectricity

2005-03-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

Development of opposite electrical charges on different parts of a crystal that is subjected to temperature change. First observed (1824) in quartz, pyroelectricity is exhibited only in crystallized nonconducting substances having at least one axis of symmetry that is polar (that is, having no centre of symmetry, the different crystal faces occurring on opposite

Aardwolf

2005-03-15T01:31:00.000-08:00

(species Proteles cristatus), African carnivore generally placed in the family Hyaenidae but separated by some authorities as the family Protelidae. The aardwolf, whose name in Afrikaans means “earth wolf,” resembles a small striped hyena. It is yellowish with vertical black stripes and a bushy, black-tipped tail, and it bears a long, coarse mane

Paer, Ferdinando

2005-03-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Paer produced his first opera, Orphée et Euridice, in Parma in 1791. From 1797 to 1802 he was in Vienna, where his most successful opera, Camilla, was produced in 1799. He was in Dresden from 1802 to 1806 and then went

Synagogue Council Of America

2005-03-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

A Jewish organization founded in 1926 to provide most congregationally affiliated Jews (regardless of individual differences) with a common voice in interfaith activities, especially those involving Christians. Council membership thus includes as Orthodox constituents the Rabbinical Council of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America;

Avery, Tex

2005-03-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

Avery's only formal art training consisted of a three-month course at the Art Institute of Chicago during the late 1920s. He began his animation career in 1929 for cartoon producer Walter Lantz at Universal

Zoroastrianism

2005-03-13T17:42:00.000-08:00

Zoroastrianism is not the purely ethical religion it may at first seem. In practice, despite the doctrine of free choice, a Zoroastrian is so constantly involved in a meticulous struggle against the contamination of death and the thousand causes of defilement, and against the threat, even in his sleep, of ever-present demons, that he does not often believe that he is

Latter Rain Revival

2005-03-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

Early name for the Pentecostal movement within U.S. Protestantism; it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Tennessee and North Carolina and took its name from the “latter rain” referred to in Joel 2:23. The Bible passage states that the former (fall) rain and latter (spring) rain were poured down from God. These rains marked the beginning and end of the Jewish harvest.

Levnî, Abdülcelil

2005-03-12T02:23:00.000-08:00

He went as a young man to Constantinople, where he studied at the academy of painting at the Topkapi Palace. He later became chief court painter to the Ottoman sultan Mustafa II, and he probably held the same post under the successor

Clonmacnoise

2005-03-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Irish Cluain Mhic Nóis , also spelled Cluain Moccu Nóis early Christian centre on the left bank of the River Shannon, in County Offaly, Ireland, south of Athlone. Clonmacnoise became the foremost Irish monastic city after the foundation of an abbey there by St. Ciaran about 545. It had become an important centre of learning by the 9th century, and several books of annals were compiled there. The cathedral, or Great Church, was founded

Agapetus I, Saint

2005-03-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

Pope from 535 to 536. Of noble birth, he was an archdeacon at the time of his election (May 13, 535). At the urging of the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, he headed an unsuccessful mission to Constantinople to deter the emperor Justinian I from his plans to reconquer Italy. While there he secured the election of, and consecrated,

Hoover, J. Edgar

2005-03-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hoover studied law at night at George Washington University, where he received degrees as bachelor of laws in 1916 and as

Wolfgang, Marvin

2005-03-11T00:26:00.000-08:00

Wolfgang attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received M.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1955) degrees. He officially joined the faculty of the University

Hypomixolydian Mode

2005-03-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

In music, last of the eight medieval church modes. See church mode.

Munch, Peter Rochegune

2005-03-09T01:43:00.000-08:00

After a career as a historian of modern Europe, Munch entered the Danish Parliament in 1909 as a member of the Radical Party. In the same year he became minister

Sabin, Florence Rena

2005-03-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

Sabin was educated in Denver, Colorado, and in Vermont and graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts, in 1893. After teaching in Denver and at Smith to earn tuition money, she entered

Endocrine System, Subphylum Cephalochordata

2005-03-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

The cephalochordate brain contains neurosecretory neurons that possibly are related to a structure called Hatschek's pit, located near the brain. Hatschek's pit appears to be related to the neural gland and hence to the vertebrate pituitary gland. Treatment of amphioxus with GnRH or luteinizing hormone (LH) reportedly stimulates the onset of spermatogenesis

Swains Island

2005-03-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

Coral atoll, American Samoa, southwestern Pacific Ocean, 280 miles (450 km) north of Tutuila. The atoll is 15–25 feet (5–8 m) above sea level; it is circular in shape, with 8 miles (13 km) of shoreline, and encloses a freshwater lagoon. It has an area of about 1 square mile (2.6 square km). Probably first known to Europeans in the 19th century, the atoll was named for a whaling captain. It is not geographically a

Mierkat

2005-03-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Meerkat, common name for certain carnivores of the civet family (Viverridae): the suricate (q.v.) and various mongoose (q.v.) species.

Liquidity Preference

2005-03-06T03:57:00.000-08:00

In economics, the premium that wealth holders demand for exchanging ready money or bank deposits for safe, non-liquid assets such as government bonds. As originally employed by John Maynard Keynes, liquidity preference referred to the relationship between the quantity of money the public wishes to hold and the interest rate. According to Keynes, the public holds

Pitcairn Island

2005-03-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

Isolated, volcanic formation in the south-central Pacific Ocean, 1,350 miles (2,170 km) southeast of Tahiti. It is the only inhabited island of the British colony of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands, which is commonly referred to as the Pitcairn Islands, or Pitcairn. The main island, with an area of about 2 square miles (5 square km), is a rugged half crater rising to 1,100 feet (about

Bingerville

2005-03-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

Town, southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, on the Ébrié Lagoon. Named for Captain Louis-Gustave Binger, first governor of the French Ivory Coast colony, the town was the colonial capital from 1900 to 1934. Formerly a trade centre among the Ebrie (Kyama) people, it is now the site of agricultural research stations for oil palm, coffee and cacao, and livestock. Pineapples and avocados are among

Liquidity Preference

2005-03-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Any of 53 species of small rodents found in a variety of habitats from Alaska and northern Canada southward to western Panama. They have bulging eyes and large ears, weigh from 15 to 110 grams (0.5 to 3.9 ounces), and are 8 to 17 cm (3.1 to 6.7 inches) long. The tail may be shorter than the head and body or strikingly longer, depending on the species. All deer mice have soft fur, but colour varies

B-24

2005-03-04T07:53:00.000-08:00

The

Adams, Abigail

2005-03-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

Until the 20th century few first ladies shared Abigail Adams's interest in politics or in the treatment of government leaders by the press. She vigorously objected to what she considered inaccurate reporting on her husband and son. But she was not altogether surprised by the “lies [and] Falshoods,” writing in 1797 to her sister that she “expected to be vilified and abused, with my whole family.” Although her approach to the office of first lady was in many ways advanced, her fame rests primarily on her thousands of letters, which form an eloquent and evocative description of her life and times.

Aulis

2005-03-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Ancient Greek town in Boeotia, separated from Chalcis (on the island of Euboea) three miles to the north by the Euboean Channel. Aulis was traditionally held to be the port from which the Greek fleet set off to the siege of Troy and the scene of the related sacrifice of Iphigenia, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae.

Russell's Viper

2005-03-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Also called Daboia, or Tic Polonga (species Vipera russelli), abundant, highly venomous terrestrial snake of the family Viperidae. It is found from India to Taiwan and Java, most often in open country. It is a major cause of snakebite deaths within its range. The viper grows to a maximum of about 1.5 m (5 feet) and is marked with three rows of reddish brown spots outlined in black and again in white.

Grindelwald

2005-03-02T04:16:00.000-08:00

Alpine village and valley, Bern canton, south central Switzerland. The village is scattered on the slopes of the Lütschine Valley (Lütschental), part of the Grindelwald Valley in the Bernese Oberland (highland), southeast of Interlaken. The Grindelwald Valley is shut in on the south by the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg, and Eiger (peaks rising above 10,000 ft [3,050 m]), between which are two

La Pérouse, Jean-françois De Galaup, Count (comte) De

2005-03-01T23:56:00.000-08:00

Commanding the ship La Boussole, which was accompanied by the Astrolabe, La Pérouse sailed from France on Aug. 1, 1785. After rounding Cape Horn, one of his stops in the South Pacific was Easter Island (April 9, 1786). Investigating tropical Pacific waters, he visited the Sandwich Islands

Topological Space

2005-03-01T02:18:00.000-08:00

In mathematics, generalization of Euclidean spaces in which the idea of closeness, or limits, is described in terms of relationships between sets rather than in terms of distance. Every topological space consists of: (1) a set of points; (2) a class of subsets defined axiomatically as open sets; and (3) the set operations of union and intersection. In addition, the class of open

Muris, Jean De

2005-02-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

French philosopher and mathematician who was a leading proponent of the new musical style of the 14th century. In his treatise Ars novae musicae (1319; “The Art of the New Music”) he enthusiastically supported the great changes in musical style and notation occurring in the 14th century and associated with the composer and theorist Philippe de Vitry, whose

Frampton, Sir George James

2005-02-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

Frampton studied under W.S. Frith and at the Royal Academy schools, where he won a traveling studentship. In 1888–90 he studied in Paris under A. Mercié, by whom he was much influenced. At the beginning of the 1890s he was attracted by the Arts and Crafts Movement and experimented

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

2005-02-26T22:41:00.000-08:00

Marion Zimmer studied at the New York State College for Teachers from 1946 to 1948 and, after her career was established, graduated from Hardin-Simmons College in 1964. In 1949 she

Calendar Of 2000

2005-02-26T03:10:00.000-08:00

TV Breizh, the first television channel to

Mccloy, John J(ay)

2005-02-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

McCloy graduated from Harvard Law School in 1921. Thereafter he practiced law on Wall Street. His work on the “Black Tom” case, in which he proved that German agents had caused an explosion at a munitions factory, attracted

Harald Iv

2005-02-24T20:01:00.000-08:00

Byname Harald Gille, or Gilchrist king of Norway (1130–36), a ruthless sovereign whose feud with his fellow king Magnus IV the Blind over the Norwegian throne marked the beginning of a period of civil wars (1130–1240) during which the right to rule was constantly in dispute. Harald's weak character helped lay the foundation for the increasingly powerful role played by the aristocracy in the civil war

Fitch, Clyde

2005-02-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

Fitch graduated from Amherst College in 1886. In New York City he began writing short stories for magazines. A prolific writer, he produced 33 original plays and 22 adaptations, including Beau Brummel (1890), written for the actor Richard Mansfield, The

Priesthood, Jainism and Buddhism

2005-02-24T02:47:00.000-08:00

In Jainism and Buddhism, arising within Brahmanism as nontheistic sectarian movements, the Brahman priesthood was sublimated and the Vedic caste and sacrifice eliminated. In their place a monastic system was evolved, with monks and nuns devoted primarily to rigorous asceticism in the quest of perfection and in the pursuit of chastity and truthfulness. Complete

Antarctica, Early scientific progress

2005-02-23T17:32:00.000-08:00

The period from the 1760s to about 1900 was one dominated by exploitation of Antarctic and subantarctic seas, particularly along Scotia Ridge. Sealing vessels of many nations, principally American and British but including Argentine, Australian, South African, New Zealand, German, and Norwegian, participated in hunting that eventually led to near extinction of the southern

Scandinavian Literature, Romances

2005-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

Romances were also translated or adapted from continental romances. Interest in romance began in Norway and soon took root in Iceland. The earliest romance was probably the Tristrams saga (1226), derived from the Anglo-Norman poet Thomas. This was followed by the Karlamagnús saga (“Saga of Charlemagne”), a collection of prose renderings of French chansons de geste, including

Metabolic Disease, Tissue lipid disorders

2005-02-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

Complex molecules composed of long-chain fatty acids linked with various sugars, phosphate, and sulfate groups form essential components of cell membranes and are vital to the normal functioning of the nervous system. These molecules are degraded and resynthesized in the normal course of tissue turnover. Defects in the enzymes that regulate this process cause

Theme

2005-02-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

In music, short melody or melodic phrase developed in a musical composition. See melody.

Magdalena

2005-02-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

Departamento, northern Colombia, occupying the Caribbean lowlands and bounded by the Magdalena River on the west. Much of its area is swamp, floodplain, or high mountains (including the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the northeast). The major economic activity is banana cultivation, especially in the vicinity of Santa Marta (q.v.), the departmental capital, which has

Epistemology, Contemporary

2005-02-20T22:43:00.000-08:00

Two excellent anthologies are Harold Morick (ed.), Challenges to Empiricism (1972, reprinted 1980); and Paul K. Moser and Arnold Vander Nat (eds.), Human Knowledge: Classical and Contemporary Approaches (1987). Edmund L. Gettier, “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” in Analysis, 23:121–23 (June 1963), is considered by many to be a decisive refutation of the justified, true-belief analysis of knowledge. Noam Chomsky, Language and the Problems of Knowledge (1988), discusses innateness, language, and psychology. Roderick M. Chisholm, Theory of Knowledge, 3rd ed. (1989); and Robert Audi, Belief, Justification, and Knowledge (1988), are two good introductions to standard epistemological problems.

Tigranes Ii The Great

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

Tigranes was the son or brother of Artavasdes I and a member of the dynasty founded in the early 2nd century by Artaxias. He was given as a hostage to the Parthian king Mithradates II, but later he purchased his freedom by ceding 70 valleys bordering on Media, in northwestern

Keeler, Wee Willie

2005-02-20T05:10:00.000-08:00

Keeler was an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed. He played in the major leagues from 1892 to 1910 and achieved a career batting average

Fruit Farming

2005-02-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

The subject of fruit and nut production deals with intensive culture of perennial plants, the fruits of which have economic significance (a nut is a fruit, botanically). It is one part of the broad subject of horticulture, which also encompasses vegetable growing and production of ornamentals

Antarctica, Plant and animal life

2005-02-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

Eric Hosking and Bryan Sage, Antarctic Wildlife (1982), is an authoritative discussion of the fauna of Antarctica. Biology of the Antarctic Seas (irregular), contains technical accounts of Antarctic sea life; a more popular summary is Robert C. Murphy, “The Oceanic Life of the Antarctic,” Scientific American, 207(3):186–194 (September 1962). Technical accounts of terrestrial life are in J. Linsley Gressitt (ed.), Entomology of Antarctica (1967); and S.W. Greene et al., Terrestrial Life of Antarctica (1967); a nontechnical review is provided by George A. Llano, “The Terrestrial Life of the Antarctic,” Scientific American, 207(3):212–218 (September 1962). Oliver L. Austin, Jr. (ed.), Antarctic Bird Studies (1968), is a technical publication; whereas John Sparks and Tony Soper, Penguins, 2nd ed. (1987), comprehensively but nontechnically describes the characteristic flightless birds of subantarctic and Antarctic coasts. George Gaylord Simpson, Penguins: Past and Present, Here and There (1976), is an authoritative, popularly written account of penguins and their fossil record. David G. Campbell, The Crystal Desert (1992), evocatively portrays the natural history of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands.

Light, Francis

2005-02-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

Light served in the Royal Navy from 1759 until 1763. In command of a merchant ship, he went in 1771 to the northern Malay state of Kedah, where he won the confidence of the sultan, Mohammed. About that time England,

Profit Sharing

2005-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

System by which employees are paid a share of the profits of the business enterprise in which they are employed, in accordance with a scheme defined in advance. Such payments, which may vary according to salary or wage, are distinct from and additional to regular earnings. Profit-sharing plans were probably first developed in France before the middle of the 19th century

Profit Sharing

2005-02-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

The United

Antarctica, Plant and animal life

2005-02-17T05:57:00.000-08:00

French Banque Africaine De Développement African organization established in August 1963 and operational beginning in July 1966 and dedicated to economic development. The Secretariat of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, together with a nine-member committee of experts from member states, engineered the original agreement of establishment, but the bank is not formally associated with the

Arzawa

2005-02-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Ancient kingdom of western or southwestern Anatolia (its exact location is disputed). Although Arzawa was for long periods a rival of the Hittite kingdom, it was occasionally conquered and made a vassal by some of the more powerful Hittite kings, such as Labarnas I (c. 1680–c. 1650 BC). During the period of Hittite decline after the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 1500 BC), Arzawa's power and prominence

Rabbinical Assembly, The

2005-02-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

Organization of Conservative rabbis in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, and Israel. It was founded in 1900 as the Alumni Association of the Jewish Theological Seminary and was reorganized in 1940 as the Rabbinical Assembly of America; in 1962 it acquired its present name and international scope. The Rabbinical Assembly recommends rabbis for appointment to Conservative

Novgorod, Treaty Of

2005-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

(June 3, 1326), the peace treaty ending decades of Russo-Norwegian hostilities in the extreme northern area of present-day Norway and Russia's Kola Peninsula—then generally known as Finnmark (including the present Norwegian province of Finnmark). The treaty, rather than delimiting a clear frontier between Norway and the principality of Novgorod, created a buffer zone, the

Rousseau, Jean-jacques

2005-02-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

Rousseau was the least academic of modern philosophers and in many ways was the most influential. His thought marked the end of the Age of Reason. He propelled political

Argentina, Immigration and ethnicity

2005-02-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Heavy immigration, particularly from Spain and Italy, has produced in Argentina a people who are almost all of European ancestry. In the colonial period, though, the Spanish explorers and settlers encountered a number of native peoples. Among these were the Diaguita tribes of the Andean Northwest, a town-dwelling, agricultural people who were forced into labour

National Association Of Congregational Christian Churches

2005-02-14T01:22:00.000-08:00

Association of churches organized in Detroit, Mich., in 1955 by ministers and laymen of Congregational Christian Churches who did not wish to take part in the merger of the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church that formed the United Church of Christ. The National Association wished to continue the independent tradition of congregationalism.

Seleucia On The Tigris

2005-02-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Greek Seleukeia, Hellenistic city founded by Seleucus I Nicator (reigned 312–281 BC) as his eastern capital; it replaced Babylon as Mesopotamia's leading city and was closely associated with the spread of Hellenistic culture in Mesopotamia. The city lay along the Tigris River about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of modern Baghdad. Seleucia was a cosmopolitan city whose population was composed largely

Bahawalnagar

2005-02-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

The surrounding region, once a part of the princely

Earth, Variations in the ionospheric dynamo current

2005-02-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

The ionospheric dynamo is produced by movement of charged particles of the ionosphere across the Earth's main field. This motion is driven by the tidal effects of the Sun and the Moon and by solar heating. The ionospheric dynamo is thus controlled by two parameters: the distribution of winds and the distribution of electrical conductivity in the ionosphere. These

Rüsselsheim

2005-02-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

City, Hesse Land (state), in west-central Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Main River between Mainz and Frankfurt am Main. Founded by the Frankish prince Ruzilo as Rusilesheim (“Ruzilo's home”), it belonged to the counts of Katzenelnbogen from 1300, was chartered in 1437, passed to the landgraves of Hesse in 1479, and fell to the Hesse-Darmstadt line in 1567. The town hall dates from

Union Pacific Railroad Company

2005-02-11T17:14:00.000-08:00

The Union Pacific was largely financed

Eskimo-aleut Languages, Yupik

2005-02-11T00:36:00.000-08:00

Yupik, a dialectal form meaning “real person,” includes five languages: Central Alaskan Yupik, spoken southward from Norton Sound; Pacific Yupik, commonly called Alutiiq, spoken from the Alaska Peninsula eastward to Prince William Sound; Naukanski Siberian Yupik, whose speakers were resettled southward from Cape Dezhnyov, the easternmost point of the Eurasian

Tapestry, 16th century

2005-02-10T04:39:00.000-08:00

Two new trends became apparent in the 16th century. The first, brought about by war and persecution in Flanders, resulted in the widespread diffusion of the Flemish art of tapestry weaving. Many Flemish artisans in the 16th century were forced to become refugees. Some grouped together to live the life of travelling craftsmen, while others attempted to reestablish their

Vigfússon, Gudbrandur

2005-02-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

Vigfússon studied in Iceland and at the University of Copenhagen but took no

Malay Language

2005-02-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Member of the Western, or Indonesian, branch of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family, spoken as a native language by more than 33,000,000 persons distributed over the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the numerous smaller islands of the area, and widely used in Malaysia and Indonesia as a second language. Malay shows the closest relationship to most of the

Eakins, Thomas

2005-02-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Although always respected for his ability, Eakins remained throughout his years something of an outcast. His contemporaries, rather than allowing themselves to be shaken by his frank statements of the human condition and his joyous appreciation of the human body, ignored him. He sold few pictures, but fortunately a small private income matched his modest needs.

Yaizu

2005-02-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

City, Shizuoka ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the west coast of Suruga Bay. Since the Tokugawa era (1603–1867), Yaizu has been one of the important coastal fishing ports for tuna, bonito, skipjack, and mackerel. Canning and freezing plants operate there. Deep-sea fishing developed in the early 20th century. Pop. (1989 est.) 111,728.

Psychomotor Learning, Devices and tasks

2005-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

Hundreds of electrical and mechanical instruments have been developed for research in psychomotor learning, but those commonly used number less than two dozen. In operating a device called a complex coordinator, the learner is instructed to make prompt, synchronized adjustments of handstick and foot-bar controls to match different combinations of stimulus

Korosten

2005-02-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Korosten ', city, Zhitomir oblast (province), north-central Ukraine. It lies along the west bank of the Uzh River about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Kiev. The city, which was incorporated in 1926, is a small industrial centre, a railway junction, and an engineering centre. In addition, it manufactures equipment for the chemical industry and has woodworking, porcelain, food-processing, and clothing

Monad

2005-02-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

(from Greek monas “unit”), an elementary individual substance that reflects the order of the world and from which material properties are derived. The term was first used by the Pythagoreans as the name of the beginning number of a series, from which all following numbers derived. Giordano Bruno in De monade, numero et figura liber (1591; “On the Monad, Number, and Figure”) described

International Relations, Science and technology in wartime

2005-02-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

Of the many wartime innovations, those in macroeconomics and management techniques were among the most important, for the rapid increase achieved in labour productivity would make possible the economic miracles of many nations after the war as well. U.S. merchant vessels that took 35 weeks to build before the war were being launched in 50 days by 1943. The Soviet Ilyushin