BlueBasin

Biblical Literature, Micah

2005-04-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

The Book of Micah, the sixth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written by the prophet Micah in the 8th century BCE. Composed of seven chapters, the book is similar in many ways to the Book of Amos. Micah attacked the corruption of those in high places and social injustice, and the book is divided into two sections: (1) judgments against Judah and Jerusalem (chapters 1–3); and (2) promises

Antiparticle

2005-04-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Subatomic particle having the same mass as one of the particles of ordinary matter but opposite electric charge and magnetic moment. Thus the positron (positive electron) is the antiparticle of the negative electron (negatron). The spinning antineutron with net charge zero, like the ordinary neutron, has its magnetic polarity opposite to that of a similarly spinning

Empiricism, Degrees of Empiricism

2005-04-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

Absolute Empiricists hold that there are no a priori concepts, either formal or categorial, and no a priori propositions. Absolute Empiricism about knowledge is less common than

Fracture

2005-04-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

In mineralogy, appearance of a surface broken in directions other than along cleavage planes. There are several kinds of fractures: conchoidal (curved concavities resembling shells—e.g., flint, quartz, glass); even (rough, approximately plane surfaces); uneven (rough and completely irregular surfaces, the commonest fracture type); hackly (sharp edges and jagged points

Angilbert

2005-04-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

Of noble parentage, he was educated at the palace school at Aachen under Alcuin and was closely connected with the court and the imperial family. In 800 he accompanied Charlemagne to Rome and was one of the witnesses to his will. He was made

Scorpius

2005-03-31T08:25:00.000-08:00

In astrology,

Mahi River

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

Stream in western India, rising in the western Vindhya Range, just south of Sardarpur, and flowing northward through Madhya Pradesh state. Turning northwest, it enters Rajasthan state and then turns southwest to flow through Gujarat state and enter the sea by a wide estuary past Cambay after about a 360-mile (580-kilometre) course. The silt brought down by the Mahi has contributed

Shamanism, American Indians

2005-03-29T02:13:00.000-08:00

Among many North American tribes shamanism constitutes the most important aspect of the religious life. The shaman is characterized by the supernatural power he acquires as the result of a direct personal experience. This power is obtained either spontaneously or after a voluntary quest, but in either case the future shaman has to undergo certain initiatory

China, Reactions to warlords and foreigners

2005-03-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

These states, too, were moving toward a new, postwar relationship with China. At the Washington Conference (November 1921–February 1922), eight powers agreed to respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial and administrative integrity of China, to give China opportunity to develop a stable government, to maintain the principle of equal opportunity in China for

Aeterni Patris

2005-03-28T03:53:00.000-08:00

An encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on Aug. 4, 1879, which strengthened the position of the philosophical system of the medieval Scholastic philosopher-theologian St. Thomas Aquinas and soon made Thomism the dominant philosophical viewpoint in Roman Catholicism.

Themba, Can

2005-03-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

After graduating from the University of Fort Hare, S.Af., Themba worked as a reporter and later editor on the magazine Drum

Sosa, Sammy

2005-03-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

As a child, Sosa worked at a number of jobs, including shining shoes, to help support his family following his father's death. At the age

Beagle Channel

2005-03-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

Strait in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America. The channel, trending east–west, is about 150 mi (240 km) long and 3 to 8 mi wide; it separates the archipelago's main island to the north from Navarino, Hoste, and other smaller islands to the south. At its western end the channel splits into two branches that encircle Isla Gordon. The eastern portion forms

Ascomycetes

2005-03-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

The sac fungi are separated into subgroups based on whether asci arise singly or are borne in one of several types of fruiting structures, or ascocarps, and

Saratov

2005-03-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

City and administrative centre of Saratov oblast (province), western Russia. The city lies along the middle course of the Volga River and was founded in 1590 as a fortress to protect the trade route along the Volga River from nomadic raiders. Its site was twice moved: in 1616 and again to the present location in 1674 after the fortress had been destroyed in a revolt. In the 19th century

Saint Bernard

2005-03-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

Working dog credited with saving the lives of some 2,500 people in 300 years of service as pathfinder and rescue dog at the hospice founded by St. Bernard of Montjoux in Great St. Bernard Pass in the Pennine Alps. Probably descended from mastifflike dogs that were introduced from Asia to Europe by the Romans, the St. Bernard appears to have been brought to the hospice in the late

Aschelminth, Internal features

2005-03-22T02:19:00.000-08:00

The graceful body waves by which nematodes move are brought about by the alternating contraction of dorsal and ventral longitudinal muscles acting on the cuticle and opposed by hydrostatic pressure in the body tissues. This hydraulic skeleton affects all aspects of the nematode. The cuticle must resist stretching in length and circumference and yet remain

Shensi, The middle period

2005-03-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

In 221 BC Hsien-yang, in Shensi, became the capital of the Ch'in dynasty, which unified China for the first time; it was a city of vast wealth and the focus of a nationwide road system. The area remained extremely populous and was a major centre of political authority for the next millennium. The Han (206 BC–AD 220), successors of the short-lived Ch'in dynasty, made their capital Ch'ang-an, near Hsien-yang.

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

2005-03-20T07:23:00.000-08:00

Spanish Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) socialist party that played an important role in 20th-century Spanish politics. The party was founded in 1879 by the Madrid typographer Pablo Iglesias. He was also the founder in 1888 of the party's affiliated trade union confederation, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT; General Union of Workers). The party grew slowly at first, partly because the UGT had to compete with the

Soho

2005-03-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

It was an area of farmlands in the Middle Ages and was acquired by the crown in the 1530s. The community's development stems from the activities

Insurance, Private health insurance

2005-03-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

In many countries health insurance has become a governmental institution. In some, doctors and other professional staff are employed, directly or indirectly, by a government agency on a full-time or part-time salaried basis, and health facilities are owned or operated by the government. This has been the practice in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Greece, Ireland,

Harvard-smithsonian Center For Astrophysics

2005-03-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory was established in 1890 in Washington, D.C., by Samuel Pierpont Langley, the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, for the specific study of the Sun's radiation. Langley's successor as observatory director in 1906, Charles Greeley Abbot, limited the facility's attention to the study of the amount and character of, and variations

Janus

2005-03-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

In Roman religion, the animistic spirit of doorways (januae) and archways (jani). The worship of Janus traditionally dated back to Romulus and a period even before the actual founding of the city of Rome. There were many jani (i.e., ceremonial gateways) in Rome; these were usually freestanding structures that were used for symbolically auspicious entrances or exits. Particular

Animal Communication

2005-03-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

The transmission of information from one animal to another by means of sound, visible sign or behaviour, taste or odour, electrical impulse, touch, or a combination of these mediums. In general, communication is employed by animals to attract or repel other individuals of particular groups and to establish and maintain distinct forms of social organization that

Soubise, Benjamin De Rohan, Seigneur De

2005-03-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Soubise apprenticed as a soldier under Prince Maurice of Orange-Nassau in the Low Countries. In the Huguenot rebellions that rocked France in the 1620s, his elder brother chiefly commanded the Huguenots' forces on land and in the south, while Soubise commanded those

Itajaí

2005-03-15T04:55:00.000-08:00

City, eastern Santa Catarina estado (“state”), southern Brazil. It lies at the mouth of the Itajaí River, at 20 feet (6 m) above sea level. Founded in the mid-19th century by German and Italian colonists, Itajaí is now the commercial centre and Atlantic port for an agricultural region drained by the Itajaí River and its tributaries. Wrapping paper and cotton textiles are the principal

Chekhov, Anton

2005-03-14T13:09:00.000-08:00

In March 1897 Chekhov had suffered a lung hemorrhage caused by tuberculosis, symptoms of which had become apparent considerably earlier. Now forced to acknowledge himself a semi-invalid, Chekhov sold his Melikhovo estate and built a villa in Yalta, the Crimean coastal resort. From then on he spent most of his winters there or on the French Riviera, cut off from the intellectual

Booth, Maud Ballington

2005-03-14T03:32:00.000-08:00

Maud Charlesworth grew up from the age of three in London. The examples of her father, a clergyman, and her mother, who worked with her husband in his slum parish, predisposed Maud to social service, and in 1882 she joined the Salvation Army. Organizing work in France

Moses, Robert

2005-03-13T10:28:00.000-08:00

U.S. state and municipal official whose career in public works planning resulted in a virtual transformation of the New York landscape. Among the works completed under his supervision were a network of 35 highways, 12 bridges, numerous parks, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Shea Stadium, many housing projects, two hydroelectric

Kiarostami, Abbas

2005-03-12T06:21:00.000-08:00

Kiarostami was hired in 1969 by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults to establish its film division. The institute produced his first film as a director, the lyrical short Nan va kucheh (1970; “Bread and Alley”), which featured

Rausing, Gad Anders

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

Swedish industrialist (b. May 19, 1922, Bromma, near Stockholm, Swed.—d. Jan. 28, 2000, Lausanne, Switz.), was the son of the developer of a sealed, laminated paperboard beverage box that did not require refrigeration and thus revolutionized the milk and juice industries. Rausing (with his younger brother, Hans) built the family business, Tetra Pak (later Tetra Laval Group), from a small Scandinavian

Gama, Vasco Da, 1er Conde (1st Count) Da Vidigueira

2005-03-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and thus ushered in a new era in world history. He also helped make Portugal a world power.

Qarmatian

2005-03-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Qarmathian, Karmatian , or Karmathian , Arabic Qarmati , plural Qaramitah a member of the Shi'ite Muslim sect known as the Isma'ilites. The Qarmatians flourished in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Bahrain during the 9th to 11th centuries, taking their name from Hamdan Qarmat, who led the sect in southern Iraq in the second half of the 9th century. The Qarmatians became notorious for an insurrection in Syria and Iraq in 903–906 and for the exploits of two Bahraini leaders,

Regina

2005-03-08T15:23:00.000-08:00

Capital and largest city of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Wascana Creek, in the south-central part of the province. It originated as a hunters' camp and was known as Pile O'Bones for the heaps of bones left there after skinning and cutting buffalo. Captain John Palliser, the explorer, visited the site in 1857 and called it Wascana (derived from its Cree Indian name, Oskana); with the

Boiling Point

2005-03-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

At any temperature a liquid partly vaporizes into the space above it until the pressure exerted

Aschelminth, Importance

2005-03-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

The aschelminths are primarily particle feeders, grazing on bacteria, microfungi, algae, and protozoans, though some are predators on other aschelminths. As such they play important roles in recycling nutrients, which then become available for plant growth, and in promoting the decomposition of dead organic matter. Aschelminths are at the base of many food

Nabonidus

2005-03-06T23:51:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Nabu-Na'id (“Reverer of Nabu”) king of Babylonia from 556 until 539 BC, when Babylon fell to Cyrus, king of Persia. After a popular rising led by the priests of Marduk, chief god of the city, Nabonidus, who favoured the moon god Sin, made his son Belshazzar coregent and spent much of his reign in Arabia. Returning to Babylon in 539 BC, he was captured by Cyrus' general Gobryas and exiled.

Abbeville

2005-03-06T01:44:00.000-08:00

City, seat of Abbeville county, northwestern South Carolina, U.S. French Huguenots in 1764 settled the site, which was named for Abbeville, France, by John de la Howe. The city is regarded by some as the “Cradle and the Grave of the Confederacy”; it was there that a secessionist meeting was held (November 22, 1860, on what is now Secession Hill) and there that the Confederate president, Jefferson

Islam

2005-03-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

The third pillar is the obligatory tax called zakat (“purification,” indicating that such a payment makes the rest of one's wealth religiously and legally pure). This is the only permanent tax levied by the Qur'an and is payable annually on food grains, cattle, and cash after one year's possession. The amount varies for different categories. Thus, on grains and fruits it is 10 percent

Monaco, Flag Of

2005-03-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

The complex princely

Religious Experience, Revelational and mystical immediacy

2005-03-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

Among defenders of the validity and cognitive import of religious experience, it is necessary to distinguish those who take such experience to be an immediate and self-authenticating encounter with the divine and those who claim that apprehension of the divine is the result of inference from, or interpretation of, religious experience. Two forms of immediacy

Zip Code

2005-03-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

In full Zone Improvement Plan Code system of zone coding introduced by the U.S. Post Office Department (now the U.S. Postal Service) in 1963 to facilitate the sorting and delivery of mail. After an extensive publicity campaign, the department finally succeeded in eliciting from the public a widespread acceptance of the ZIP code. Users of the mails were requested to include in all addresses a five-number code,

A'sha, Al-

2005-03-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

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

Lebombo Mountains

2005-03-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Lubombo Mountains, long, narrow mountain range in South Africa, Swaziland, and Mozambique, southeastern Africa, about 500 miles (800 km) long and consisting of volcanic rocks. The mountains' name is derived from a Zulu word, Ubombo, that means “big nose.” The mountains extend from south of the Mkuze River (KwaZulu/Natal province) north into Kruger National Park (Northern province). The Lebombo Mountains

Handel, George Frideric

2005-02-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

German (until 1715) Georg Friedrich Händel or Georg Friedrich Haendel German-born English composer of the late Baroque era, noted particularly for his operas, oratorios, and instrumental compositions. He wrote the most famous of all oratorios, the Messiah (1741), and is also known for such occasional pieces as Water Music (1717) and Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749).

All's Well That Ends Well

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

The play concerns the efforts of Helena, daughter of a renowned physician, to make Bertram, the count of Rossillion, her husband. When Bertram is

Hugenberg, Alfred

2005-02-27T02:35:00.000-08:00

German industrialist and political leader. As the head of a huge newspaper and film empire and a prominent member of the conservative German National Peoples' Party, he exercised a profound influence on German public opinion during the Weimar Republic period (1918–33) and materially contributed to Adolf Hitler's rise

Omaha

2005-02-26T20:28:00.000-08:00

North American Plains Indian people of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan language stock. With the other members of this subgroup (the Osage, Ponca, Kansa, and Quapaw [qq.v.]), the Omaha migrated westward from the Atlantic coast. An early settlement was in Virginia and the Carolinas. After a time they moved to the Ozark Plateau and the prairies of what is now western Missouri.

Mystery Religion

2005-02-25T23:20:00.000-08:00

Any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions. They originated in tribal ceremonies that were performed by primitive peoples in many parts of the world. Whereas in these tribal communities almost every member of the clan or the village was initiated, initiation

Olgas

2005-02-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

Aboriginal Kata Tjuta , also called Olga Rocks tors (isolated weathered rocks) in southwestern Northern Territory, Australia, comprising a circular grouping of some 36 red conglomerate domes rising from the desert plains north of the Musgrave Ranges. They occupy an area of 11 square miles (28 square km) within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (established in 1958 as the former Ayers Rock-Mount Olga National Park) and culminate

Olympic Games, Flag Of The

2005-02-23T18:49:00.000-08:00

In 1914, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held its 20th anniversary meeting in Paris, the Olympic flag was displayed for the first time. The design had been conceived by the French educator Pierre, baron de Coubertin, who developed the modern Olympic movement. It has been claimed that Coubertin found the design of five interlocked rings on an ancient altar in

Marsh Hawk

2005-02-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

Common name for the best-known harrier species. See harrier.

Sri Lanka, Relief

2005-02-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

The Central Highlands

Guhyasamaja-tantra

2005-02-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

The Guhyasamaja

Cythera

2005-02-22T03:05:00.000-08:00

Exportation of murex, a purple dye obtained from a species

San Fernando De Apure

2005-02-21T00:06:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Apure estado (“state”), west-central Venezuela, on the Apure River. A Llanos (plains) port, it is vulnerable to flooding during the rainy season, despite its great distance from the sea, because it has an elevation of only 200 feet (60 m). Live cattle, beef, and cattle hides are the city's leading products. It is a port of call for small boats on both the Orinoco and the Apure

Jacobi, Mary Putnam

2005-02-20T23:24:00.000-08:00

Mary Putnam was the daughter of George Palmer Putnam, founder of the publishing firm of G.P. Putnam's Sons, and was an elder sister of Herbert Putnam, later librarian of Congress. The family returned from England in 1848, and Mary grew

Pachaimalai Hills

2005-02-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

Range of hills in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, an eastward extension of the Eastern Ghats in the northeastern Tamilnad Uplands. The Pachaimalai Hills, together with the Javadi, Shevaroy, and Kalrayan hills, separate the Cauvery River basin in the south from the Palar River basin in the north. Extending over approximately 5,200 sq mi (13,500 sq km), they form a discontinuous line of highlands

Ashland

2005-02-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

Settled in 1815 as Poage's Settlement, it was renamed (1854) in honour of Henry Clay's home in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashland's proximity to coal and timber regions

Moscow Zoo

2005-02-18T23:00:00.000-08:00

Russian Moskovsky Zoo-park, largest zoo in Russia, exhibiting an outstanding collection of northern animals and many exotic species. Founded by a public society in 1864, the zoo later was privately owned. In 1919 it was declared the property of Soviet Russia and in 1923 was put under the Moscow City Soviet (council). It incorporates 20 hectares (49 acres) and includes small, unbarred enclosures as well as large paddocks

Rove Beetle

2005-02-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Rove beetles are usually found around decaying animal and vegetable matter, preying on carrion-feeding insects. Most of them are slender and small (usually less than 3 mm, or 1/8 inch); the largest species, such as the devil's coachhorse (Staphylinus olens), are usually no

Solar Calendar

2005-02-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Any dating system based on the seasonal year of approximately 365 1/4 days, the time it takes the Earth to revolve once around the Sun. The Egyptians appear to have been the first to develop a solar calendar, using as a fixed point the annual sunrise reappearance of the Dog Star—Sirius, or Sothis—in the eastern sky, which coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River. They

Light, Francis

2005-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

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,

Argelander, Friedrich Wilhelm August

2005-02-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

German astronomer who established the study of variable stars as an independent branch of astronomy and is renowned for his great catalog listing the positions and magnitudes of 324,188 stars. He studied at the University of Königsberg, Prussia, where he was a pupil and later the successor of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel. Argelander was appointed

Mahal, Taj

2005-02-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Taj Mahal (the name came to him in a dream) grew up in a musical family. His father, of Jamaican background, was a jazz

Eyck, Jan Van

2005-02-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

Flemish painter who perfected the newly developed technique of oil painting. His naturalistic panel paintings, mostly portraits and religious subjects, made extensive use of disguised religious symbols. His masterpiece

Loranthaceae

2005-02-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

One of the mistletoe families of the sandalwood order (Santalales), having approximately 65 genera and about 850 species of parasitic flowering trees or shrubs. Some authorities also consider the 11 genera and about 450 species of the family Viscaceae, including the commonly known mistletoes of the genera Arceuthobium and Phoradendron in North America and of the genera

Vaganova, Agrippina (yakovlevna)

2005-02-12T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ballerina and teacher who developed a technique and system of instruction based on the classic style of the Imperial Russian Ballet but which also incorporated aspects of the more vigorous, acrobatic Soviet ballet developed after the Revolution. Her pupils included such outstanding dancers as Marina

Chi-tsang

2005-02-12T01:42:00.000-08:00

Chi-tsang was the son of a Parthian father and a Chinese mother, but his education and upbringing were wholly Chinese. In an age characterized by social unrest and military

National Monument

2005-02-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national

Vadianus, Joachim

2005-02-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Crowned poet laureate by the Habsburg emperor Maximilian (1514), Vadianus served as rector at the University of Vienna (1516–17) and supervised the publication of the works of various ancient writers, notably Ovid and Pliny the

Crocket

2005-02-10T01:09:00.000-08:00

In architecture, a small, independent, sharply projecting medieval ornament, usually occurring in rows, and decorated with foliage. In the late 12th century, when it first appeared, the crocket had the form of a ball-like bud, with a spiral outline, similar to an uncurling fern frond; but in the later Gothic period it took the form of open, fully developed leaves that by the

Coleroon River

2005-02-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

River in Tiruchchirappalli and Thanjavur districts, Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India, formed by the northern bifurcation of the Cauvery River at Srirangam. The river flows between South Arcot and Thanjavur districts for 36 mi (58 km) and empties through several mouths into the Bay of Bengal, 3 mi south of Porto Novo. The Coleroon is part of the Cauvery Delta, the most fertile and

Shabbetai Tzevi

2005-02-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

As a young man, Shabbetai steeped himself in the influential body of Jewish mystical writings known as the Kabbala. His extended periods of ecstasy and his strong personality combined to attract

Peru, Pre-Hispanic patterns

2005-02-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Diverse groups of indigenous Indians occupied Peru during the pre-Hispanic period. When the first migrants arrived in the Andean area, probably more than 13,000 years ago, they were at a hunting and gathering stage of cultural development. Over a long period of time, however, varied and more sophisticated ways of life were developed. Along the coast, groups became specialized

Sorin, Edward Frederick

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

Sorin was ordained a priest in 1838, and two years later he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross, a group of priests and brothers organized at Le Mans, Fr. Sorin and six brothers went to Vincennes, Ind., in 1841 at the invitation of Bishop Célestine

African American Literature

2005-02-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Body of literature written by Americans of African descent. Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a creative, if often contentious, dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in expressive subtlety and social insight, offering illuminating assessments of American identities and history.

Wasil Ibn 'ata'

2005-02-05T22:55:00.000-08:00

As a young man Wasil went to Basra, Iraq, where he studied under the celebrated ascetic Hasan al-Basri and met other influential religious figures who lived there. In Wasil's time there began the discussions that led to the development of Islamic

Binet, Alfred

2005-02-05T00:47:00.000-08:00

Fascinated by the work of the French neurologist Jean Charcot on hypnosis at the Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, Binet abandoned a law career in 1878 to devote himself

Thomism

2005-02-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Thomism continued to be presented in philosophy and theology courses or manuals, especially in the Dominican Order. Most Thomistic manuals of this period were watered with the opinions of other Schoolmen and remained remote from modern problems. In most Catholic seminaries and universities of the early 19th century, eclecticism

Mehsana

2005-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Town, administrative headquarters of Mehsana district, Gujarat state, west central India, in the lowlands between the Aravalli Range and the Little Rann of Kutch. Founded in the 12th to the 14th century by the Chavada Rajputs, the old town is believed to have had four gates, of which only one remains. Rajmahal, built by the Maratha ruler of Baroda (now Vadodara), Sayaji Rao III, is an imposing

Duchenne, Guillaume-benjamin-amand

2005-02-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

During his lifelong private practice in Boulogne (1831–42) and Paris (1842–75), he explored the effects of electrical stimulation on diseased nerves and muscles. He rendered

Rumor, Mariano

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

After graduation from the University of Padua, Rumor became a teacher. During World War II he served as an officer in the artillery, and in 1943 he joined the partisans to fight against the Fascist and German forces. In 1945 he became a member of the Christian

Hughes, Ted

2005-02-01T03:11:00.000-08:00

The dialect of Hughes's native West Riding area of Yorkshire set the tone of his verse. At Pembroke College, Cambridge, he found folklore and anthropology of

Chad, Flag Of

2005-02-01T02:53:00.000-08:00

When French West Africa was under colonial rule, little was done to develop a sense of nationality; emphasis was on the culture and political and economic systems of France. The independence movement in Africa in the mid-20th century therefore found Chad, like most other territories, with few precedents for establishing its own symbols. When the Republic of Chad was

Vasily Ii

2005-01-31T00:26:00.000-08:00

Although the 10-year-old Vasily II was named by his father Vasily I (ruled Moscow 1389–1425) to succeed him as the grand prince of Moscow and of Vladimir, Vasily's rule was challenged by his uncle Yury and his cousins Vasily the Squint-Eyed and Dmitry Shemyaka. After a long, chaotic, and bitter struggle, during which Vasily not only temporarily

Earth, Electrical conductivity

2005-01-30T23:54:00.000-08:00

The electrical conductivity at the Earth's surface is extremely variable and is largely dominated by the presence of water. Laboratory measurements, for example, show that the conductivity of seawater is close to four siemens per metre (S/m; or a resistivity of 0.23 ohm-metre), whereas dry rock exhibits conductivities in the range 10-11 to 10-9 siemens per metre. When water is present

Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl Of, Lord Daer And Shortcleuch

2005-01-30T04:23:00.000-08:00

Selkirk succeeded to the Scottish earldom on the death of his father in 1799, all of his elder brothers having died previously. Believing that the hardships of the Scottish

Augeas

2005-01-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Augeias, or Augias, in Greek legend, king of the Epeians in Elis, a son of the sun-god Helios. He possessed an immense wealth of herds, and King Eurystheus imposed upon the Greek hero Heracles the task of clearing out all of Augeas' stables unaided in one day. Heracles did so by turning the Alpheus River through them. Although Augeas had promised Heracles a tenth of the herd, he later refused,

Tragedy, Aeschylus: the first great tragedian

2005-01-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

It is this last question that Aeschylus asks most insistently in his two most famous works, the Oresteia (a trilogy comprising Agamemnon, Choephoroi, and Eumenides) and Prometheus Bound (the first part of a trilogy of which the last two parts have been lost): is it right that Orestes, a young man in no way responsible for his situation, should be commanded by a god, in the name

Thomas, Martha Carey

2005-01-28T03:28:00.000-08:00

Carey Thomas, as she preferred to be known, was the daughter of a modestly prosperous Quaker family. She attended Quaker schools in her native Baltimore, Maryland, and in Ithaca, New York, then overrode her father's objections

Hincmar Of Reims

2005-01-27T23:42:00.000-08:00

Educated at the abbey of Saint-Denis, Paris, Hincmar was named a royal consultant to King Louis I the Pious in 834. When King Charles the Bald of France continued him in that office (840), Hincmar incurred

Chebyshev, Pafnuty Lvovich

2005-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

Chebyshev became assistant professor of mathematics at the University of St. Petersburg (now St.

Dyer-bennet, Richard

2005-01-27T05:31:00.000-08:00

Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at

César

2005-01-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

Departamento, northern Colombia, bounded on the northeast by Venezuela and on the southwest by the Magdalena River. Created in 1967, the departamento, with an area of 8,844 square miles (22,905 square km), descends from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north and the Sierra de Perijá in the northeast to the lowlands of the Magdalena River valley. It is traversed by the César River,

Graziano, Rocky

2005-01-24T06:13:00.000-08:00

In his youth Graziano was a juvenile delinquent, and he later deserted from the U.S. Army after punching an officer. Though he had begun using the name Graziano, he was nevertheless found, sentenced to nine months in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, and dishonourably

Apterygote

2005-01-24T03:12:00.000-08:00

Broadly, any of the primitive wingless insects of the subclass Apterygota (class Insecta), distinct from the subclass Pterygota or winged insects. Used in this sense, the term apterygotes commonly includes four groups of primitive insects: proturans, collembolans, diplurans (see photograph), and thysanurans. The taxonomic status of these groups, however, remains

Ausonius, Decimus Magnus

2005-01-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

Ausonius taught in the famous schools of Burdigala (now Bordeaux, Fr.), first as a grammarian and then as a rhetorician, so successfully that Valentinian I called him to Trier to tutor Gratian, who, on his

Netherlands Antilles, Saba

2005-01-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

Saba was settled by the Dutch in 1632 but, because of its inaccessibility and ruggedness, never achieved any economic importance.

Buli Style

2005-01-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

Also called long-faced style of Buli African wood sculpture made by the Luba peoples (Baluba) of Congo (Kinshasa). Because the carvings—which were made in the village of Buli (now in Katanga province)—are almost identical to each other and differ from other Luba carvings, they were originally presumed to have been the work of a single artist, called the Master of Buli. Later, it was determined that the sculptures