SmoothBed

Kazak Uplands

2005-11-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

Kazak Saryarqa , Russian Kazakhsky Melkosopochnik , also spelled Kazachskij Melkosopocnik hilly upland in central and eastern Kazakstan, occupying about one-fifth of the republic. It is a peneplain, the mountainous Paleozoic foundation of which had already been worn down into an undulating plain by the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, beginning about 245 million years ago. Low hills are characteristic, and there are extensive depressions occupied by saline

Rabbinic Judaism

2005-10-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

The normative form of Judaism that developed after the fall of the Temple of Jerusalem (AD 70). Originating in the work of the Pharisaic rabbis, it was based on the legal and commentative literature in the Talmud, and it set up a mode of worship and a life discipline that were to be practiced by Jews worldwide down to modern times.

Jacobite

2005-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

In British history, a supporter of the exiled Stuart king James II (Latin Jacobus) and his descendants after the Revolution of 1688. The political importance of the Jacobite movement extended from 1688 to 1745. The Jacobites, especially under William III and Queen Anne, could offer a feasible alternative title to the crown, and the exiled court in France (and later in Italy) was often

B-24

2005-07-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

The

Pacific Islands, Soils

2005-07-24T04:10:00.000-07:00

Pacific island soils develop through the action of temperature, rainfall, and organic matter on the original rock materials. This process is further influenced by factors of time and land relief. Coral island soils are the least mature and are deficient in organic materials and low in fertility. The mineral-bearing soils of the continental islands are more complex

Biblical Literature, Form criticism

2005-07-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

Form criticism has become one of the most valuable tools for the reconstruction of the preliterary tradition. This discipline classifies the literary material according to the principal “forms”—such as legal, poetic, and other forms—represented in its contents, and examines these in order to discover how they were handed down and what their successive life settings

Computers, ALGOL

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

During the late 1950s a multitude of programming languages appeared. This proliferation

Advertising Coloration

2005-06-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

In animals, the use of biological coloration to make an organism unique and highly visible as compared with the background, thereby providing easily perceived information as to its location, identity, and movement. Such advertisement may serve the function of attracting individuals in order to enter into some advantageous interaction (e.g., courtship for reproductive

Beit Bridge

2005-06-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Beitbridge town, southern Zimbabwe. It lies near the bridge named for Alfred Beit, British South African financier, across the Limpopo River. The bridge is situated on the border with Northern province, South Africa, opposite Messina and is a port of entry and a customs and immigration post. The town, founded in 1929, was for many years the terminus of the railway from Pretoria, until a

Icarus

2005-06-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

In Greek mythology, son of the inventor Daedalus who perished by flying too near the Sun with waxen wings. See Daedalus.

Soto

2005-06-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Sannazzaro, Jacopo

2005-05-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

Sannazzaro became court poet of the house of Aragon at the age of 20. In 1501, when Frederic, last king of the dynasty, lost his throne, Sannazzaro accompanied him into exile

Buraq

2005-05-16T23:05:00.000-07:00

In Islamic tradition, a creature said to have transported the Prophet Muhammad to heaven. Described as “a white animal, half-mule, half-donkey, with wings on its sides . . . ,” Buraq was originally introduced into the story of Muhammad's night journey (isra') from Mecca to Jerusalem and back, thus explaining how the journey between the cities could have been completed in a single night.

Vaihinger, Hans

2005-05-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Vaihinger taught philosophy at the University of Halle from 1884 to 1906, when nearsightedness

La Rochefoucauld Family

2005-03-15T03:34:00.000-08:00

One of France's noblest families, traceable in Angoumois to the year 1019. Ducal titles belonging to it are: duke (duc) de La Rochefoucauld (1622); duke de La Roche-Guyon (1679); duke d'Anville (1732); duke d'Estissac; duke de Liancourt (1747); duke de Doudeauville (1780); duke (duca) di Bisaccia (Neapolitan title; 1851); and duke (duque) de Estr�es (Spanish title; 1892). Its two best-known members, Fran�ois VI, Duke de La Rochefoucauld,

Insurance, Group annuities

2005-03-14T00:36:00.000-08:00

An annuity in the literal sense is a series of annual payments. More broadly it may be defined as a series of equal payments over equal intervals of time. A life annuity, a subclass of annuities in general, is one in which the payments are guaranteed for the lifetime of one or more individuals. A group annuity differs from an individual annuity in that the annuity payments

Trailing Arbutus

2005-03-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Also called �Ground Laurel, Winter Pink, or Mayflower� (species Epigaea repens), trailing plant of the heath family (Ericaceae), native to sandy or boggy, acid woodlands of eastern North America. It has oblong, hairy evergreen leaves 2 - 6 cm (0.75 - 2.5 inches) long. The highly fragrant white, pink, or rosy flowers have a five-lobed corolla (the petals, collectively) and grow in dense clusters. Trailing arbutus grows in shady wildflower

Farah River

2005-03-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Dari Persian �in full Darya-ye Farah Rud, � river in western Afghanistan, rising on the southern slopes of the Band-e Bayan Range, flowing southwest past the town of Farah, and emptying into the Helmand (Sistan) swamps on the Iranian border after a course of 350 miles (560 km). The river fluctuates greatly with the seasons, sometimes flooding in the spring and becoming impassable. Its waters are used for irrigation along much

Extradition

2005-03-06T16:24:00.000-08:00

According

Cancan

2005-03-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Lively and risqu� dance of French or Algerian origin, usually performed by four women. Known for its high kicks in unison that exposed both the petticoat and the leg, the cancan was popular in Parisian dance halls in the 1830s and appeared in variety shows and revues in the 1840s. The cancan is in a lively 2/4 time and was at first danced to quadrille or galop music. Specific cancans

Esso

2005-03-04T05:07:00.000-08:00

Any of several foreign affiliates of the Exxon Corporation (q.v.).

Patristic Literature, Late 2nd to early 4th century

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

Meanwhile, a brilliant and distinctive phase of Christian literature was opening at Alexandria, the chief cultural centre of the empire and the meeting ground of the best in Hellenistic Judaism, Gnosticism, and Neoplatonism. Marked by the desire to present Christianity in intellectually satisfying terms, this literature has usually been connected with the

Saragat, Giuseppe

2005-03-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

A University of Turin graduate in economics and commerce, Saragat joined the Socialist Party in 1922. An opponent of the Fascists, he was exiled by them from 1926 to 1943; upon returning to Rome in

Ashkenazi

2005-03-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

(from Hebrew Ashkenaz, �Germany�), plural Ashkenazim, any of the Jews who lived in the Rhineland valley and in neighbouring France before their migration eastward to Slavic lands (e.g., Poland, Lithuania, Russia) after the Crusades (11th - 13th century). After the 17th-century persecutions in eastern Europe, large numbers of these Jews resettled in western Europe, where they assimilated,

Abydos

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

The history of Abydos is intimately associated with the political and religious development of Egypt

Draft Riot Of 1863

2005-02-27T21:38:00.000-08:00

Major four-day eruption of violence in New York City resulting from deep worker discontent with the inequities of conscription during the U.S. Civil War. Although labouring people in general supported the Northern war effort, they had no voice in Republican policy and occasionally deserted from the army or refused reenlistment. Because of their low wages, often

Kermanshah

2005-02-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Bakhtaran, � city, western Iran. The city lies in the fertile valley of the Qareh Su River and is situated on the ancient caravan route between the Mediterranean Sea and Central Asia. It was founded in the 4th century AD by Bahram IV of the Sasanian dynasty. Conquered by the Arabs in 640, the town was called Qirmasin (Qirmashin). Under Seljuq rule in the 11th century, it was the chief town of Kordestan.

Judaism, The gaonate of Sa'adia ben Joseph

2005-02-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

In a bold effort to restore discipline and respect for the gaonate, an able exilarch, David ben Zakkai (916/917 - 940), bypassed the families from whom the geonim had traditionally been selected and in 928 appointed Sa'adia ben Joseph al-Fayyumi to head the academy of Sura. Of Egyptian birth, Sa'adia had gained wide acclaim for his scholarly retorts to Karaites, heretics, and Palestinian

Utrera

2005-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

The site has been occupied since prehistoric times and was known as Utricula during the Roman period. The city, an episcopal see before domination

Induction Heating

2005-02-21T17:47:00.000-08:00

Method of raising the temperature of an electrically conductive material by subjecting it to an alternating electromagnetic field. The electric currents induced in the object (although it is electrically isolated from the source of the field) bring about dissipation of power in the form of heat. Induction-heating methods are applied most widely in metalworking

Biblical Literature, New Testament canon, texts, and versions

2005-02-20T00:04:00.000-08:00

(Canon): For the relevant primary texts on the history of the canon, see Daniel J. Theron (ed.), Evidence of Tradition (1957), with selected source material in Greek or Latin with English translation; and James Stevenson (ed.), A New Eusebius (1957). For introductions, see Alexander Souter and C.S.C. Williams, The Text and Canon of the New Testament, 2nd ed. rev. (1954); and Robert M. Grant, The Formation of the New Testament (1965). For a phenomenological approach, see Gerardus van der Leeuw, Ph�nomenologie der Religion, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1956; Eng. trans., Religion in Essence and Manifestation, 2nd ed., 2 vol., 1963), ch. 64. (Texts): The major text for further study is Bruce H. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (1964). (Translations): On translation in general, see Reuben A. Brower (ed.), On Translation (1959). For translation of the Bible into English, see Frederick F. Bruce, The English Bible: A History of Translations from the Earliest English Versions to the New English Bible, 2nd ed. (1970).

Anatolia

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

This article discusses the history and cultures of ancient Anatolia beginning

Naser Od-din Shah

2005-02-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

Although a younger son of Mohammad Shah, Naser od-Din was named heir apparent through the influence of his mother. Serious

Australia

2005-02-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

The Australian mainland extends from west to east for nearly 2,500 miles (4,000 km) and

Heilungkiang

2005-02-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Heilungkiang was long sparsely inhabited by hunters and fishermen who used canoes, dogsleds, skis, and reindeer as transport.

Jablonski, Daniel Ernst

2005-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

Jablonski studied at Frankfurt an der Oder and at Oxford University and began preaching at Magdeburg in 1683. From 1686 to 1691 he headed the Moravian College at Lissa, becoming court preacher at K�nigsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia)

Bratteli, Trygve (martin)

2005-02-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

Entering the Labour Party's youth organization in 1928, Bratteli became editor of the newspaper Arbeiderungdommen (�Labour Youth�) in the 1930s and served as secretary of the organization until 1940 and as its chairman in 1945 - 46. From 1940 to 1942, during the early years of the German occupation

Maugham, Robin

2005-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

The only son of the 1st Viscount, Lord Chancellor Herbert Romer Maugham (whom he succeeded in 1958), Robin Maugham was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as an intelligence officer in World War

Bulandshahr

2005-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

The surrounding area comprises a level region between

Hadley, John

2005-02-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

Hadley's first Newtonian reflector, built in 1721, had a mirror about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. The favourable response it evoked inspired

Muravyov, Mikhail Nikolayevich, Graf

2005-02-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, known as the �hangman of Wilno� for his

Wycombe

2005-02-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

District, administrative and historic county of Buckinghamshire, England, in the southern part of the wooded Chiltern Hills. The River Thames forms its southern boundary. The predominantly rural district overlaps the designated Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Prehistoric burial mounds and earthworks are visible. Towns include High Wycombe,

Aldrovandi, Ulisse

2005-02-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

After studying mathematics, Latin, law, and philosophy, Aldrovandi went to Padua in about 1545 to continue his studies. There he began to study medicine, the field in which he eventually earned a degree in 1553. On his return

Durand, Asher B(rown)

2005-02-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

He was apprenticed in 1812 to an engraver; by 1823 his reputation was established with his engraving of John Trumbull's painting �Declaration of Independence.� For the next decade he continued to do engraved reproductions

Derbyshire Dales

2005-02-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

The Romans mined lead in the area between Wirksworth and Castleton, and lead mining continued until the 19th century. Cotton textiles became important when Sir Richard Arkwright built the first water-powered cotton-spinning

�li Pasa, Mehmed Emin

2005-02-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

The son of a shopkeeper, �li Pasa entered government service as a boy. Without

Pucallpa

2005-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Coronel Portillo provincia and Ucayali departamento, eastern Peru. It lies on the Ucayali River in the hot, humid Amazonian rain forest. Although the community dates from the early colonial era (1534), it remained isolated until 1945, when the Lima-Pucallpa highway, 526 miles (846 km) long, was completed. The largest community in Ucayali departamento, Pucallpa can be reached

Saccharomyces

2005-02-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

Genus of yeasts belonging to the family Endomycetales. An outstanding characteristic of members of Saccharomyces is their ability to convert sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol by means of enzymes. The yeasts used to ferment sugars in the manufacture of baked goods, beers, wines, distilled spirits, and industrial alcohols are all strains of one species, S.

Macdonald, John D.

2005-02-01T01:19:00.000-08:00

After MacDonald graduated from Syracuse (New York) University (B.S., 1938) and Harvard Graduate School of Business (M.B.A., 1939), he served in World

Henley Royal Regatta

2005-01-31T18:04:00.000-08:00

Annual four-day series of rowing races held the first week in July on the River Thames, at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, Eng. The regatta was established in 1839; and in 1851 Prince Albert became its patron and gave the event its �royal� prefix. The regulation distance for the races is 1 mile 550 yards (2,100 m). Probably the most significant of the traditional Henley races are the Grand Challenge

Girard, Stephen

2005-01-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

Girard shipped out to sea at the age of 14 and by 1774 was captain of a ship involved in U.S. coastal trade with the West Indies. Stymied by British blockades

Anthimus Vi

2005-01-28T05:51:00.000-08:00

In about 1840 Anthimus, a monk of a monastery on

Mordenite

2005-01-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hydrated sodium, potassium, and calcium aluminosilicate mineral (Na2,K2,Ca) Al2Si10O24�7H2O, in the zeolite family. It is one of the most abundant zeolites in altered volcanic deposits, and it commonly occurs as white, glassy needles filling veins and cavities in igneous rocks. It is also found in marine sediments, as in the Ural Mountains and in dikes where water has attacked and

Gully, John

2005-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

In 1805, having failed as a butcher, Gully was in prison for his debts when he was visited by his Bristol pugilist friend Henry Pearce, �the Game Chicken.� As the result of an informal bout between them in jail, Gully's

Epistemology, The �other-minds problem�

2005-01-25T02:09:00.000-08:00

The second problem also involves seeing but in a somewhat unusual way. It deals with that which one cannot see, namely the mind of another. Suppose a woman is scheduled to have an operation on her right knee and her surgeon tells her that when she wakes up she will feel a sharp pain in her knee. When she wakes up, she does feel the pain the surgeon alluded to. He can hear her groaning

Tyrwhitt, Thomas

2005-01-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

English scholar especially notable for his work on the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. In classical and English scholarship alike, Tyrwhitt showed the same qualities of balance, wide knowledge, and critical acumen. (He was the one man able, on linguistic grounds alone, to denounce as a forgery the poems by Thomas Chatterton purporting

United Nations

2005-01-23T21:19:00.000-08:00

Kofi Annan of Ghana(see BIOGRAPHIES) took office on Jan. 1, 1997, as the new secretary-general of the United Nations, and change was in the air throughout the year. Annan's reforms were controversial, but the General Assembly approved most of them. In other major developments, the UN's authority was seriously challenged by Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo

Earth Mother

2005-01-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

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

Condell, Henry

2005-01-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Condell may have been acting as early as 1590 - 91, but he first certainly appeared

Fibre

2005-01-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Fiber, � in textile production, basic unit of raw material having suitable length, pliability, and strength for conversion into yarns and fabrics. A fibre of extreme length is a filament. Fibres can occur naturally or can be produced artificially. See Man-Made Fibres; natural fibre.

Philodemus

2005-01-18T06:04:00.000-08:00

After studying under the Epicurean Zeno of Sidon at Athens, he moved to Rome c. 75 BC and became the mentor of the Roman aristocrat Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who invited Philodemus to live in his villa at Herculaneum, near Naples. In the ruins of that villa

Tin Processing

2005-01-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

There is evidence from both archaeology and literature that tin was one of the earliest metals to be known and used. Its earliest application was as an alloy with copper to form bronze, which was fashioned into tools and weapons. Bronze articles (typically containing about 10 percent tin) have been found in the Middle East dating from about 3500 BC and in Egypt from 3000 BC. Other ancient

Scandinavian Literature, Danish literature

2005-01-16T19:19:00.000-08:00

Denmark's first literature appeared in the runic inscriptions scratched on stone or carved in metal, mainly epitaphs of warriors, kings, and priests that occasionally had short, unrhymed alliterative verses in the Viking spirit. Runic inscriptions were used in Denmark from about 250, but most of those preserved date from 800 to 1100. With the introduction of Christianity, Latin

Basho

2005-01-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

Interested in haiku from an early age, Basho at first put his literary interests aside and entered the service of a local feudal lord. After

Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista

2005-01-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

Great Italian painter of the 18th century. His luminous, poetic frescoes (e.g., �The Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra,� before 1750), while extending the tradition of Baroque ceiling decoration, epitomize the lightness and elegance of the Rococo period (see photograph).

Albacete

2005-01-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Provincia in the comunidad aut�noma (�autonomous community�) of Castile-La Mancha, southeast-central Spain. It occupies the southeastern end of the Meseta Central (plateau). Albacete is the driest interior province of the Iberian Peninsula, with as little as 2 inches (50 mm) annual rainfall in some areas. The south is mountainous or hilly and is crossed by the J�car and Segura

Computers, The age of Big Iron

2005-01-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

Gerrit A. Blaauw and Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution (1997), is a highly technical history of the development of the concepts in computer architecture.

Saudi Arabia

2005-01-11T13:34:00.000-08:00

Since the bomb attack against the U.S. military housing complex at Al-Khubar in 1996, United States investigators had expressed frustration at the poor cooperation between American and Saudi investigators. The Saudis proposed and later dropped plans to extradite from Canada a

France, History Of, The shrinking of the frontiers and peripheral areas

2005-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

These events undermined the Frankish hegemony. In Brittany the Franks maintained control of the eastern region but had to cope with raids by the Bretons, who had established heavily populated settlements in the western part of the peninsula. To the southwest the Gascons, a highland people from the Pyrenees, had been driven northward by the Visigoths in 578 and settled

Durazno

2005-01-09T02:36:00.000-08:00

In full� San Pedro De Durazno, � city, central Uruguay, on the Yi River. Long part of an unclaimed area between Spanish and Portuguese territories, Durazno was not formally founded until 1821, when Jos� Fructuoso Rivera established a settlement called San Pedro de Durazno, a name concocted from Dom Pedro de Alc�ntara, prince regent of Brazil, and durazno (�peach tree�), for the local fruit trees. During the

National Aquarium

2005-01-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

The facility houses more than 1,000 specimens of nearly 200 species of fishes in 54 individual display tanks ranging in capacity from 285 to

Latin American Integration Association

2005-01-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

Spanish �Asociaci�n Latinoamericana de Integraci�n (ALADI)� organization that was established by the Treaty of Montevideo (August 1980) and became operational in March 1981. It seeks economic cooperation among its members. Original members were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Cuba joined in 1999. Several countries and organizations maintain observer status. Headquarters

Mierkat

2005-01-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

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

Land Mine

2005-01-05T22:41:00.000-08:00

Stationary explosive charge used against military troops or vehicles. See mine.

K'uei Hsing

2005-01-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

K'uei Hsing, whose name before deification was Chung K'uei, is said to have passed his own examination with remarkable success but was denied the usual honours when the emperor beheld his ugly features. Brokenhearted, K'uei attempted

Quantification

2005-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

In logic, the attachment of signs of quantity to the predicate or subject of a proposition. The universal quantifier, symbolized by (-) or (-), where the blank is filled by a variable, is used to express that the formula following holds for all values of the particular variable quantified. The existential quantifier, symbolized ($-), expresses that the formula following holds

Motion-picture Technology, Wide-screen and stereoscopic pictures

2005-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

Until the early 1950s, the screen shape, or aspect ratio (expressed as the ratio of frame width to frame height), was generally 1.33 to 1, or 4 to 3. In the mid-1950s the ratio became standardized at 1.85 to 1 in the United States and 1.66 or 1.75 to 1 in Europe. These slightly wider images were accomplished by using the same film but smaller aperture plates in the projector and by using shorter-focal-length

Abu Kalijar Al-marzuban Ibn Sultan Ad-dawlah

2005-01-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

When his father, Sultan ad-Dawlah, died in December 1023/January 1024, Abu Kalijar's succession to the sultan's Iranian possessions of Fars and Khuzistan was challenged by his uncle Abu al-Fawaris, the ruler of Kerman, to the west. By 1028 Abu Kalijar was

Manchu Language

2004-12-31T21:47:00.000-08:00

Vowel harmony, in which vowels

Blanqui, Adolphe

2004-12-30T03:22:00.000-08:00

In 1833 Blanqui succeeded Jean-Baptiste Say, under whom he had studied, to the chair of political economy at the Conservatory of Arts and Trades. Blanqui's work blended theoretical and empirical approaches in an

Water Scavenger Beetle

2004-12-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Any of the approximately 2,000 species of the predominately aquatic insect family Hydrophilidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles are found swimming in marshy freshwater ponds throughout the world, especially in warm regions. Water scavenger beetles have smooth, oval, dark-brown or black bodies and short, hairy, clubbed antennae. They range in length from several to

Asher Ben Jehiel

2004-12-28T06:11:00.000-08:00

When the German authorities began to persecute the Jews, Asher fled to France and then to Spain. With the help of Rabbi Solomon ben Adret, one of the most influential

Far�s, Nabile

2004-12-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

In his first novel, Yahia, pas de chance (1970; �Yahia, No Chance�), Far�s introduced a quest that was to haunt his later works; the search for the

Bearbaiting

2004-12-25T04:12:00.000-08:00

In England many large groups of bears were kept expressly for the purpose. Contemporary records reveal, for example, that 13 bears were provided

Mental Disorder, Affective disorders

2004-12-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

Depression is characterized by a sad or hopeless mood, pessimistic thinking, a loss of enjoyment and interest in one's usual activities and pastimes, reduced energy and vitality,

Vesalius, Andreas

2004-12-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

(Latin), Flemish �Andries Van Wesel� Renaissance Flemish physician who revolutionized the study of biology and the practice of medicine by his careful description of the anatomy of the human body. Basing his observations on dissections he made himself, he wrote and

Lancet Fish

2004-12-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Either of two species of widely distributed, deepwater marine fish of the genus Alepisaurus (the family Alepisauridae). Lancet fish are elongated and slender, with a long, very tall dorsal fin and a large mouth that is equipped with formidable fanglike teeth. The fish grow to a large size, attaining a maximum length of about 1.8 m (6 feet). Voracious and carnivorous, they feed

Phocion

2004-12-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Phocion was a pupil of Plato and in later life a close friend of the Platonic philosopher Xenocrates. After serving Persia as a mercenary, he was drawn into Athens' efforts to remain

Gamow, George

2004-12-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

Original Russian �Georgy Antonovich Gamov � Russian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big-bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. In addition, his work on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) made a basic contribution

Regency Style

2004-12-18T08:06:00.000-08:00

Decorative arts produced during the regency of George, prince of Wales, and the opening years of the 19th century as well as his entire reign as King George IV of England, ending in 1830. The major source of inspiration for Regency taste was found in Greek and Roman antiquity, from which designers borrowed both structural and ornamental elements. The classical revival of

Audiberti, Jacques

2004-12-17T04:01:00.000-08:00

A former clerk for the justice of the peace in Antibes, Audiberti began his writing career as a journalist, moving to Paris in 1925 to write for Le Journal and Le Petit Parisien. Later, he wrote more than 20 plays

Atat�rk, Kemal

2004-12-16T01:22:00.000-08:00

The Allies did not wait for a peace treaty to begin claiming Ottoman territory. Early in December 1918, Allied troops occupied sections of Istanbul and set up an Allied military administration. On Feb. 8, 1919, the French general Franchet d'Esp�rey entered the city on a white horse, emulating Mehmed the Conqueror's entrance in 1453 but signifying that Ottoman sovereignty over the

Amory, Thomas

2004-12-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

A staunch Unitarian

Heliopolis

2004-12-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

(Greek), Egyptian �Iunu�, or �Onu (�Pillar City�)�, biblical �On� one of the most ancient Egyptian cities, and the seat of worship of the sun god, Re. It was the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt, but Heliopolis was important as a religious rather than a political centre. Its great temple of Re was second in size only to that of Amon at Thebes, and its priesthood wielded great influence, particularly during the 5th dynasty, when the worship

De La Mare, Walter

2004-12-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

De la Mare was educated at St. Paul's Cathedral Choir School in London, and from 1890 to 1908 he worked in the London office of the Anglo-American Oil Company. From 1902, however, when his poetry collection Songs of Childhood appeared

God, Peace Of

2004-12-12T00:43:00.000-08:00

The Peace of God is first heard of in the year 990 at three synods held in different parts of southern and central France - at Charroux, Narbonne, and Puy. It enlisted the immediate support of the regular clergy and of William V of Aquitaine, the

Zangid Dynasty

2004-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Muslim Turkish dynasty that was founded by Zangi (q.v.) and which ruled northern Iraq (al-Jazirah) and Syria in the period 1127 - 1222. After Zangi's death in 1146, his sons divided the state between them, Syria falling to Nureddin (Nur ad-Din Mahmud; reigned 1146 - 74) and al-Jazirah to Sayf ad-Din Ghazi I (reigned 1146 - 49). Nureddin's expansionist policy led him to annex Damascus (1154), subjugate Egypt (1168), and present a broad and competent

'arab, Shatt Al-

2004-12-10T03:37:00.000-08:00

(Arabic: �Stream of the Arabs�), river in southeastern Iraq, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at the town of Al-Qurnah. It flows southeastward for 120 miles (193 km) and passes the Iraqi port of Basra and the Iranian port of Abadan before emptying into the Persian Gulf. For about the last half of its course the river forms the border between Iraq and Iran; it

Epistemology, Modern

2004-12-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

Two excellent and now classic histories of early modern philosophy from different perspectives are Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science, rev. ed. (1972), which emphasizes the effect of modern science on philosophy; and Richard H. Popkin, The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza, rev. and expanded ed. (1979), which emphasizes the rediscovery of skepticism in the 16th century. Ren� Descartes's greatest work is Meditations on First Philosophy, trans. by John Cottingham (1986; originally published in Latin, 1641). John Locke attacks the doctrine of innate ideas in Book I of his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. by Peter H. Nidditch (1975), while his position on knowledge is developed in Books II and IV. A good introduction to Locke's thought is John W. Yolton, Locke: An Introduction (1985). The best work of George Berkeley is A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, ed. by Kenneth Winkler (1982); a more popular presentation of his views is Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, ed. by Robert Merrihew Adams (1979). Daniel E. Flage, Berkeley's Doctrine of Notions: A Reconstruction Based on His Theory of Meaning (1987), discusses a central but neglected aspect of Berkeley's epistemology. David Hume's most expansive discussion of knowledge is in Book I of A Treatise of Human Nature, 2nd ed., edited by L.A. Selby-Bigge and rev. by P.H. Nidditch (1978). A later and more accessible statement of Hume's view is presented in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. by Eric Steinberg (1977). Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. by Norman Kemp Smith (1929, reissued 1978; originally published in German, 1781), is Kant's greatest work. The best clear, brief, and accurate explanation of Kant's epistemology is A.C. Ewing, A Short Commentary on Kant's �Critique of Pure Reason� (1938, reprinted 1987). An important book that rejects the view of Kant as a phenomenalist or subjective idealist is Henry E. Allison, Kant's Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defense (1983). For G.F.W. Hegel's criticisms of Kant, see his Lectures on the History of Philosophy, trans. from German by Elizabeth S. Haldane and Frances H. Simson (1896, reprinted 1974), part III, section iii, B. A major study on the relationship between Kant and Hegel is Robert B. Pippin, Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness (1989).

Bassano, Jacopo

2004-12-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

His early works, such as the �Susannah and the