ElasticSkin

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

2006-10-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services. They are a specialist in estate agent fitzrovia, amongst other London areas such as Soho and Oxford Circus.

Cloud-scraper

2005-03-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

Any of certain birds of the genus Cisticola. See cisticola.

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The Greeks

2005-03-16T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hellenic tradition after Homer stands in sharp contrast to this concentration on the fulfilling of a divine plan. The analytic, essentially scientific histories of Herodotus and Thucydides precluded much confident belief in visionary providence. The Greeks rather believed history to be structured in cycles, as distinct from the more purposive linearity

Kierkegaard, Søren

2005-03-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

In full SØren Aabye Kierkegaard Danish religious philosopher and critic of rationalism, regarded as the founder of existentialist philosophy. He is famous for his critique of systematic rational philosophy, particularly Hegelianism, on the grounds that actual life cannot be contained within an abstract conceptual system. With this stance, he intended to

Guernsey

2005-03-13T23:07:00.000-08:00

In the south, Guernsey rises in a plateau to about 300 ft (90 m), with ragged coastal cliffs. It descends in steps and is drained

Music, African

2005-03-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

It is widely acknowledged that African music has undergone frequent and decisive changes throughout the centuries. What is termed traditional music today is probably very different from African music in former times. Nor has African music in the past been rigidly linked to specific ethnic groups. The individual musician, his style and creativity, have always

Attalus, Priscus

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

Attalus was born a pagan and was baptized by an Arian bishop. He was a senator at the time of Alaric's second siege of Rome, and he was named emperor of the West by the Goths after the city surrendered in 409. Attalus then urged the legitimate emperor, Honorius, to vacate his throne.

Cambridge

2005-03-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

City (district), administrative and historic county of Cambridgeshire, England, home of the internationally known University of Cambridge. The city lies immediately south of the fen country (a flat alluvial region only slightly above sea level) and is itself only 20 to 80 feet (6 to 24 metres) above sea level. Most of the city is built on the east bank of the River Cam, a tributary

China, Attacks on cultural figures

2005-03-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

As the Cultural Revolution

Obelisk

2005-03-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

Tapered monolithic pillar, originally erected in pairs at the entrances of ancient Egyptian temples. The Egyptian obelisk was carved from a single piece of stone, usually red granite from the quarries at Aswan. It was designed to be wider at its square or rectangular base than at its pyramidal top, which was often covered with an alloy of gold and silver called electrum.

Swartberg

2005-02-28T01:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Swartberge, mountain range in Western Cape province, South Africa, extending east-west for 150 mi (240 km) from near the town of Willowmore to the edge of the Witteberge, roughly parallel with the Indian Ocean coast. The Swartberg is the barrier dividing the semiarid Great Karoo (north) and Little Karoo (south) plateaus. Highest elevations range from between 5,500 and 7,500 ft (1,650 and 2,300 m). Small reservoirs

Daehlie, Bjørn

2005-02-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

Involved in many sports growing up, Daehlie was not serious about cross-country

Mysticism, Union of opposites

2005-02-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Mystical experience is flanked with a communication hazard, a “polar identity.” The linguistic liberties and extravagances are part of the logical impossibility of having to describe one order of experience in terms of another. Hence, the rhetoric of mysticism is largely one of symbols and paradoxes. The most striking of the strategies, as the medieval Christian

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Colossians

2005-02-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Colossians presents the problem of having, on the one hand, numerous (though superficial) affinities with the circumstances of the Letter of Paul to Philemon while, on the other hand, being addressed mainly to a different situation. In this new situation he uses ideas and expressions that seem to be rather a development of Pauline ideas about the cosmic realm than

Jack-o'-lantern

2005-02-20T01:22:00.000-08:00

In American holiday custom, a hollowed-out-pumpkin lantern that is displayed on Halloween. The surface of the pumpkin is carved to resemble a face. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable

Avocado

2005-02-18T21:13:00.000-08:00

Also called Alligator Pear, fruit of Persea americana of the family Lauraceae, a tree native to the Western Hemisphere from Mexico south to the Andean regions. The tree, tall or spreading, has leaves elliptic to egg-shaped in form and 100–300 mm (4–12 inches) in length. The small, greenish flowers, borne in dense racemes, are devoid of petals and have six perianth lobes, nine stamens arranged in

Race, Scientific classifications of race

2005-02-16T22:58:00.000-08:00

In publications issued from 1735 to 1759, Linnaeus classified all of the then-known animal forms. He included humans with the primates and established the use of both genus and species terms for identification of all animals. For the human species, he introduced the still-current scientific name Homo sapiens. He listed four major subdivisions of this species, H.

Plummer's Disease

2005-02-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

Also called toxic multinodular goitre thyroid condition characterized by marked enlargement of the thyroid gland (goitre), firm thyroid nodules, and mild overproduction of thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism). Plummer's disease, which usually occurs in older people, is of unknown etiology. Its symptoms resemble those of Graves' disease (q.v.), a condition believed to be an autoimmune disorder caused by antibodies

Russell's Viper

2005-02-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

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.

Childhood Disease And Disorder, Respiratory disorders

2005-02-10T02:12:00.000-08:00

Numerous abnormalities of respiratory function are common in the newborn infant. One of the most severe is respiratory distress syndrome (RDS; also called hyaline membrane disease). RDS occurs in 0.5 to 1 percent of all deliveries, and, as previously mentioned, is especially common in premature infants. In addition, it is encountered commonly in infants of diabetic mothers

Tabasco

2005-02-09T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hot red pepper, a variety of Capsicum frutescens of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. See pepper.

Atl, Doctor

2005-02-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

Educated in Mexico City, Rome, and Peru, he founded the journal Action d'Art in Paris in 1913 and edited it for three years. The paintings he created during that period generally imitated popular European trends such as Post-Impressionism

Spring

2005-02-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

In hydrology, opening at or near the surface of the Earth for the discharge of water from underground sources. A spring is a natural discharge point of subterranean water at the surface of the ground or directly into the bed of a stream, lake, or sea. Water that emerges at the surface without a perceptible current is called a seep. Wells are holes excavated to bring water

Furniture, Near East and classical antiquity

2005-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

A. Lucas, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 3rd ed. (1948), indispensable; Howard Carter and A.C. Mace, The Tomb of Thut-Ankh-Amen, 3 vol. (1923–27); Gisela H. Richter, The Furniture of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans (1966), the standard reference work in this area.

X Ray

2005-01-31T20:07:00.000-08:00

Early experiments with X rays presented evidence that is difficult to explain unless one thinks of X rays as consisting of waves. Other experiments, however, indicated that X rays consist of particles. This dual nature is not restricted to X rays; indeed, it is a general property of all forms of energy and matter. X rays (and the other forms of electromagnetic radiation)

Ibn Babawayh

2005-01-29T22:12:00.000-08:00

Little is known about Ibn Babawayh's life. According to legend he was born as the result of special prayers to the mahdi (the expected one). In 966 he left Khorasan for Baghdad, possibly attracted by the Shi'i inclination of the

Rosenzweig, Franz

2005-01-27T17:51:00.000-08:00

German-Jewish religious Existentialist who, through his fresh handling of traditional religious themes, became one of the most influential modern Jewish theologians. In 1913, although his conversion to Christianity had seemed imminent, a religious experience caused him to devote his life to the study, teaching, and practice of

Yupik Language

2005-01-26T18:48:00.000-08:00

The western division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in southwestern Alaska and in Siberia.

Rabbula

2005-01-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

Reforming bishop of Edessa and theologian who was a leading figure in the Christian church in Syria. He advocated the orthodox Alexandrian (Egypt) position in the 5th-century controversy with the Antiochian (Syria) school of Nestorianism, a heretical teaching that denied that the person of Christ possessed both a divine and

Pithou, Pierre

2005-01-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

Reared as a Calvinist, Pithou received his lawyer's robes at Paris (1560) after he had earned recognition by his essays on Roman laws. On the outbreak of the Second War of Religion against the Protestants in 1567, he fled

Textile, Napping and shearing

2005-01-20T03:07:00.000-08:00

Napping is a process that may be applied to woollens, cottons, spun silks, and spun rayons, including both woven and knitted types, to raise a velvety, soft surface. The process involves passing the fabric over revolving cylinders covered with fine wires that lift the short, loose fibres, usually from the weft yarns, to the surface, forming a nap. The process, which increases

Uberti, Farinata Degli

2005-01-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Uberti became chief of the Ghibellines in 1239, but he was exiled from Florence along with his party after

Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich

2005-01-16T04:09:00.000-08:00

Herzen also spelled Hertzen, or Gertsen political thinker, activist, and writer who originated the theory of a unique Russian path to socialism known as peasant populism. Herzen chronicled his career in My Past and Thoughts (1861–67), which is considered to be one of the greatest works of Russian prose.

Tzu-kung

2005-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Zigong, city in central Szechwan Province (sheng), China. Tzu-kung is a prefecture-level municipality (shih), which was formed in 1939 by the merger of Kung-ching—a great salt-producing district with a history dating to the 7th century AD—and the rapidly developing town of Tzu-liu-ching. The city is situated on the Ching Ho (river), a tributary of the T'o Chiang (river), and the area is connected

Biblical Literature, Uniqueness of John

2005-01-12T02:06:00.000-08:00

John is the last Gospel and, in many ways, different from the Synoptic Gospels. The question in the Synoptic Gospels concerns the extent to which the divine reality broke into history in Jesus' coming, and the answers are given in terms of the closeness of the new age. John, from the very beginning, presents Jesus in terms of glory: the Christ, the exalted Lord, mighty from

Back Swimmer

2005-01-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

Any insect of the family Notonectidae (order Heteroptera), containing approximately 200 species. These relatively small insects occur worldwide. Most are less than 15 mm (0.6 inch) in length. Their long, oarlike legs are used when they swim on their backs, which are shaped like the keel and sides of a boat. The back swimmer has an oval head and an elongated body. It is a good example

O Dalaigh, Cearbhall

2005-01-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

Son of parents active in the struggle for Irish independence, O Dalaigh studied at University College, Dublin, earning a degree in Celtic studies in 1931. He was an Irish-language editor on The Irish Press (1931–42), meanwhile becoming a lawyer (1935). In 1945 he became Ireland's

O Dalaigh, Cearbhall

2005-01-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

Allosaurus weighed two tons and grew to 10.5 metres (35 feet) in length, although fossils indicate that

Sanidinite Facies

2005-01-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

One of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, the rocks of which form under the most intense conditions of contact metamorphism—either at the contacts of igneous intrusions with the surrounding rocks or in inclusions of other rocks in intrusions. Temperatures approaching the melting point of the rock may be reached; the

Frederick (i)

2005-01-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

Frederick was the eldest surviving son of the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. He fought bravely for England during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). His marriage in 1700 to Louise of Prussia ended with her death in 1705, and in 1715 he married

Arts, Central Asian, Altaic tribes

2004-12-30T20:03:00.000-08:00

Because of a freak climatic freeze, some of the Altaic burials, notably those of the 5th century BC at Pazyryk and neighbouring sites, such as Katanda, Shibe, and Tuekt, were isolated from external climatic variations by a protective layer of ice that conserved the organic substances buried in them. At Pazyryk these included the bodies of horses and an embalmed man whose

Argentina, Porteños and gauchos

2004-12-29T06:36:00.000-08:00

The people of the port of Buenos Aires, the porteños, often call their cultured and glamorous city the Paris of South America. But there is another Argentina away from the capital: that of the Pampas and the interior. The interior gave to all Argentines their symbol of national identity, the gaucho, who occupies a position in South American lore similar to that of the

Kaduna

2004-12-26T21:14:00.000-08:00

Town, capital of Kaduna state, north-central Nigeria. It lies along the Kaduna River, which is a major tributary of the Niger River. Sir Frederick (later Lord) Lugard, the first British governor of Northern Nigeria, selected the present site along the Lagos-Kano Railway for a town, and building began in 1913. In 1917 Kaduna (a Hausa word for “crocodiles”) replaced Zungeru, 100 miles (160 km) west-southwest,

Lajes

2004-12-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

Town, northeast Terceira Island, Portuguese Azores. In 1941 the Portuguese government selected the town's site, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of the city of Angra do Heroísmo, as an air base. It became a major Allied air installation during World War II and later a joint U.S. and Portuguese base within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The airfield is also an important weather-forecasting

Joubert, Petrus Jacobus

2004-12-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Joubert was the son of an indigent farmer-missionary who trekked his family north to Natal in 1837. When his father died, the family settled on a farm (Rustfontein)

Cronin, A.j.

2004-12-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Cronin was educated at the University of Glasgow and served as a surgeon in the Royal Navy during World War I. He practiced in South Wales (1921–24) and then, as medical inspector of mines, investigated

Andalusia

2004-12-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Andalusia has a long history. Agriculture and complex society had developed in the region by 4000 BCE. During the 9th century BCE the Phoenicians founded the coastal colony of Gadir (now Cádiz), and by the 5th century BCE Carthaginians and Greeks had colonized the coast, while the indigenous Iberian peoples of the interior developed a rich urban culture. The Romans led by Scipio Africanus

'arad

2004-12-16T04:09:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Israel, in the northeast Negev, named for the biblical Arad, the ruins of which are visible at Tel 'Arad, about 5 1/2 miles (9 km) east-northeast. The book of Numbers (21:1–3) tells how the Canaanite king of 'Arad fought the Israelites during the exodus from Egypt, but his cities were “utterly destroyed” by Israel's armies. The city's name appears on the Temple of Amon, al-Karnak, Egypt,

Biblical Literature, Prophetic themes and actions

2004-12-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

The first section of the book (chapters 1–24) contains prophecies against Judah and Jerusalem. Ezekiel's call is recorded in chapter 1 to chapter 3, verse 15. It came in a vision of four heavenly cherubim, who appeared in a wind from the north, a cloud, and flashing fire (lightning?)—traditional symbolic elements of a theophany (manifestation of a god) in ancient Near Eastern religions.

Afghanistan, Mohammad Nader Shah (192933)

2004-12-12T00:07:00.000-08:00

Nader Shah produced a new constitution in 1931 that was modeled on Amanollah's constitution of 1923 but was more conservatively

Aesthetics, Japan

2004-12-11T01:14:00.000-08:00

The practice of literary commentary and aesthetic discussion was extensively developed in Japan and is exemplified at its most engaging in the great novel Genji monogatari (c. 1000; Tale of Genji), written by Murasaki Shikibu, lady-in-waiting to the Empress. Centuries of commentary on this novel, as well as on the court literature that it inspired, on the no and puppet plays,

Paestum

2004-12-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

Poseidonia was probably founded about 600 BC by Greek colonists from Sybaris, along the Gulf of Taranto, and it had become a flourishing town by 540, judging from its temples.

Rayon

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

Any man-made textile fibre produced from the plant substance cellulose. Developed in an attempt to produce silk chemically, the fibre was originally known by such terms as artificial silk and wood silk, but in 1924 it was given the coined name rayon. An anitrocellulose type of rayon, first produced commercially in France in 1891 in the form of a nitrocellulose fibre, was later

Biblical Literature, The Revised Standard Version

2004-12-08T03:53:00.000-08:00

The American Standard Version had been an expression of sensitivity to the needs of the American public. At the same time, several individual and unofficial translations into modern speech made from 1885 on had gained popularity, their appeal reinforced by the discovery that the Greek of the New Testament used the common nonliterary variety of the language spoken

Eakins, Thomas

2004-12-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

All paintings in oils unless otherwise noted. “A Street Scene in Seville” (1870; Mrs. John R. Garrett, Sr. Collection); “Home Scene” (1871; Brooklyn Museum, New York); “Max Schmitt in a Single Scull” (1871; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City); “Katherine” (1872; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.); “The Pair-Oared Shell” (1872; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake” (1873; Cleveland Museum of Art); “John Biglin in a Single Scull” (watercolour, 1873; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Sailing” (1874; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Pushing for Rail” (1874; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “The Gross Clinic” (1875; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia); “Will Schuster and Blackman Going Shooting” (1876; Yale University Art Gallery); “Chess Players” (1876; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River” (1877; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Fairman Rogers Four-in-Hand” (1879; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Crucifixion” (1880; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Pathetic Song” (1881; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.); “The Swimming Hole” (1883; Fort Worth Art Center Museum, Fort Worth, Texas); “Lady with a Setter Dog (Mrs. Eakins)” (1885; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Walt Whitman” (1887; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia); “Letitia Wilson Jordan Bacon” (1888; Brooklyn Museum); “Miss Van Buren” (c. 1889; Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.); “The Agnew Clinic” (1889; University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); “Professor Henry A. Rowland” (1891; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, Mass.); “The Concert Singer” (1892; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Frank Hamilton Cushing” (1894–95; Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Okla.); “Taking the Count” (1898; Yale University Art Gallery); “Salutat” (1898; Addison Gallery of American Art); “Between Rounds” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Benjamin Eakins” (1899; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “Mrs. William D. Frishmuth” (1900; Philadelphia Museum of Art); “The Thinker: Louis N. Kenton” (1900; Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Self-Portrait” (1902; National Academy of Design, New York); “Mrs. Edith Mahon” (1904; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Mass.); “Monsignor Diomede Falconio” (1905; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Kabir

2004-12-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

The birth of Kabir (Arabic: “Great”) remains to this day shrouded in mystery and legend. Authorities disagree

Puerto Rico, Flag Of

2004-12-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

In the late 19th century, as pro-independence sentiment grew in the Caribbean islands under Spanish dominion, many activists in Cuba and Puerto Rico were exiled to the United States or elsewhere. In New York City a flag was chosen in exile by the Puerto Rican section of the Cuban Revolutionary Party on December 22, 1895. The design was simply the Cuban flag with a reversal of the

Burbage, Richard

2004-12-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

The son of the actor and theatre manager and owner James Burbage, Richard had attained wide popularity as an actor by age 20. He was a member of the Earl of Leicester's company and remained with it through its evolution into the King's Men in 1603. He

Lens

2004-12-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

In anatomy, a colourless, nearly transparent biconvex structure suspended behind the iris of the eye, the sole function of which is to focus light rays onto the retina. The lens is made up of unusual elongated cells that have no blood supply but obtain nutrients from the surrounding fluids, the aqueous humour in front and the vitreous behind. The shape of the lens—essentially

India Rubber Plant

2004-11-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

Young plants available in the florist's trade are durable

Great Dividing Range

2004-11-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

Also called Great Divide, Eastern Highlands, or Eastern Cordillera, main watershed of eastern Australia; it comprises a series of plateaus and mountain ranges roughly paralleling the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria for 2,300 miles (3,700 km). Geologically and topographically complex, the range begins in the north on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Within that state the ranges' average elevation is 2,000–3,000 feet (600–900 m), but they rise as high

Empiricism, In medieval philosophy

2004-11-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Most medieval philosophers after St. Augustine (see below, Criticism and evaluation) took an Empiricist position, at least about concepts, even if they recognized much substantial but nonempirical knowledge. The standard formulation of this age was: “There is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses.” Thus St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) altogether rejected

Tepic

2004-11-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Nayarit estado (“state”), west-central Mexico, lying at 3,002 feet (915 m) above sea level along the Tepic River, at the foot of extinct Sangangüey volcano. Founded in 1542, much of the city retains its colonial atmosphere. The cathedral, municipal palace, and Amado Nervo Theatre especially reflect Spanish influence. Shops offer Indian handicrafts, and Huichol and Cora

Kirov, Sergey Mironovich

2004-11-27T02:30:00.000-08:00

A Bolshevik Party member and organizer, Kirov was arrested several times for his revolutionary activities before the October Revolution (1917) placed the Bolsheviks in power

Actinium Series

2004-11-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Set of unstable heavy nuclei constituting one of the four radioactive series (q.v.).

Libya

2004-11-25T06:44:00.000-08:00

Libya's international relations in 1997 were again dominated by the decade-long

Hydatidiform Mole

2004-11-24T04:34:00.000-08:00

In human pregnancy, abnormal growth of the chorion, the outermost vascular membrane that in a normal pregnancy would enclose the embryo and ultimately give rise to the placenta. In the situation in which the hydatidiform mole develops, the embryo is usually either absent or dead. The mole, a collection of sacs (cysts) containing a jellylike substance, resembles clusters

France, History Of, France from 1715 to 1789

2004-11-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Régime and the French Revolution (1955, reprinted 1978; originally published in French, 1856), is still a basic source for the study of the period. Comprehensive histories include C.B.A. Behrens, The Ancien Régime (1967, reprinted 1976); Pierre Goubert and Daniel Roche, Les Français et l'Ancien Régime, 2 vol. (1984); Albert Soboul, La France à la veille de la Révolution, 2nd rev. ed. (1974), a Marxist interpretation; Alfred Cobban, Old Régime and Revolution, 1715–1790 (1957, reprinted 1969), vol. 1 in his A History of Modern France; Hubert Méthivier, L‘Ancien Régime en France: XVIe–XVIIe–XVIIIe siècles (1981); and Norman Hampson, The Enlightenment (1968, reprinted 1982). For discussions of social classes and economic issues, see Robert Forster, The Nobility of Toulouse in the Eighteenth Century (1960, reprinted 1971); Elinor G. Barber, The Bourgeoisie in 18th Century France (1955, reprinted 1970); Franklin L. Ford, Robe and Sword: The Regrouping of the French Aristocracy After Louis XIV (1953, reprinted 1965); Henri Sée, Economic and Social Conditions in France During the Eighteenth Century (1927, reissued 1968; originally published in French, 1925); and Steven Laurence Kaplan, Provisioning Paris: Merchants and Millers in the Grain and Flour Trade During the Eighteenth Century (1984). Economic histories make much use of the 18th-century travelogue of Arthur Young, Travels During the Years 1787, 1788, & 1789: Undertaken More Particularly with a View of Ascertaining the Cultivation, Wealth, Resources, and National Prosperity of the Kingdom of France, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1794), available in many later editions. The culture and ideology of the period are explored in Harvey Chisick, The Limits of Reform in the Enlightenment: Attitudes toward the Education of the Lower Classes in Eighteenth-Century France (1981); Thomas E. Crow, Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris (1985); Joan B. Landes, Women and the Public Sphere in the Age of the French Revolution (1988); Jeremy D. Popkin, News and Politics in the Age of Revolution: Jean Luzac's Gazette de Leyde (1989); and Jean Starobinski, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Transparency and Obstruction (1988; originally published in French, 1957).

Tadjoura, Gulf Of

2004-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

French Golfe De Tadjoura, gulf indenting the coastline of Djibouti, eastern Africa, located at the extreme western end of the Gulf of Aden. It provides some shelter for the port of Djibouti on the southeastern shore of the gulf. The gulf is 35 miles (56 km) wide at the mouth and 50 miles long, with a depth of as much as 3,550 feet (1,082 m) near the centre. It is about 164 feet deep off the coast of Djibouti. The coastline is rather

Porsche, Ferdinand

2004-11-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

Porsche became general director of the Austro-Daimler Company in 1916 and in 1923 moved to the Daimler Company in Stuttgart. He left in 1931 and formed his own firm to design sports and racing cars. Porsche became deeply involved in Hitler's project for a “people's

Vaisheshika

2004-11-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Vaisesika, Sanskrit Vaisesika (“Particular”), one of the six orthodox systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy, significant for its naturalism, a feature that is not characteristic of most Indian thought. The Sanskrit philosopher Kanada Kasyapa (2nd–3rd century AD?) expounded its theories and is credited with founding the school. Important later commentaries were written by Prasastapada, Udayana, and Sridhara.

Arts, Islamic, Architecture

2004-11-18T19:07:00.000-08:00

The Mamluks created a monumental setting for Syria and Egypt that lasted until the 20th century. It was at its most remarkable in architecture, and nearly 3,000 major monuments have been preserved or are known from texts in cities from the Euphrates to Cairo. No new architectural types came into being, although many more urban commercial buildings and private houses have

Waitemata Harbour

2004-11-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

Harbour in northern North Island, New Zealand. The focal point of the Auckland region, it opens into Hauraki Gulf (east) through Stanley Bay. Its shore has many lesser embayments, containing Island, Soldiers, and Onetaunga bays in the northwest, Herne Bay in the southeast, and Stanley and Freemans bays in the east. Several tidal rivers, including Henderson and Whau creeks,

Ghat

2004-11-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gat, oasis, southwestern Libya, near the Algerian border. Located on an ancient Saharan caravan route, it was a slave-trading centre and the object of European exploration in the 19th century. Ghat lies west of the Wadi (watercourse) Tanezzuft in hilly sandstone country, near the Jibal Akakus (mountains) and the Tadrart plateau. A nearby offshoot of the mountains, Idinen, is a legendary

Kwangju

2004-11-16T00:39:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Gwangju, city and provincial capital, South Cholla do (province), southwestern South Korea. It has the status of a special city (area 193 square miles [501 square km]) under the direct control of the home minister, with administrative status equal to that of a province. An old city on the edge of the mountainous area of South Cholla province, it has been a centre of trade and of local administration

Roberts, Kenneth (lewis)

2004-11-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Roberts worked as a journalist until 1917, when he began service as a captain in the Intelligence Section of the U.S. Army's Siberian Expeditionary Force. He was staff correspondent of the Saturday Evening Post from 1919 until

Sikhism, Canonical and noncanonical literature

2004-11-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

The earliest source materials on Nanak are the janam-sakhis (“life stories”), written 50 to 80 years after the death of the Guru. Most Sikh scholars reject them and rely instead on the Guru's compositions incorporated in the Adi Granth and the Vars (heroic ballads) composed by Bhai Gurdas (died 1629). Neither Nanak's hymns nor Gurdas' Vars are specific regarding the events of Nanak's life. Other historical

Monasticism, Sikhism

2004-11-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

Sikhism, founded by the Punjabi reformer Nanak, was and is a martial version of Hinduism. Of all the indigenous Indian religions, it was the least sympathetic to monastic inspirations. The aforementioned Sikh monastic Nirmal-akhada and the quasi-monastic Nihang Sahibs are patently compromises with the overall Indian trend to establish monastic traditions to express

Cotabato City

2004-11-11T19:03:00.000-08:00

City, southern Mindanao, Philippines. The city is located in a swampy area near the southern banks of the Cotabato River (a tributary of the Mindanao River) and just inland of the Moro Gulf. Cotabato City is the primary trade and commercial centre for all of southwestern Mindanao. Rice, corn (maize), coconuts, sugarcane, coffee, and bananas are grown in the region. Transportation

Quaking Grass

2004-11-10T02:46:00.000-08:00

The various species are native to Eurasia. Briza maxima, B. media, and B. minor (shivery grass) are cultivated as ornamentals and have become naturalized in temperate

Biblical Literature, Division of the land and renewal of the Covenant

2004-11-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

The division of the land among the tribes is recounted in chapters 13–22. Two sources were apparently used by the Deuteronomist in dealing with the division of the land: a boundary list from the pre-monarchical period (i.e., before the late 11th century BCE) and a list of cities occupied by several tribes from the 10th to the 7th century BCE. The tribes who occupied territories were: Reuben,

Catawba

2004-11-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

North American Indian tribe of Siouan language stock who inhabited the territory around the Catawba River in the Carolinas. Their principal village was on the west side of the river in what is now York county, S.C. They were known among white traders as flatheads because, like a number of other tribes of the Southeast, they practiced ritual deformation of the head on

Gastronomy, The Italian influence on France

2004-11-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

Italy has been called the mother of the Western cuisines, and perhaps its greatest contribution was its influence on France. The crucial event was the arrival of Catherine de Médicis in France in the 16th century. The great-granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Catherine married the young man who later was to become Henry II of France. She brought with her a retinue

Middle Eastern Religion

2004-11-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Any of the religious beliefs, attitudes, and practices developed in the ancient Middle East (extending geographically from Iran to Egypt and from Anatolia and the Aegean Sea to the Arabian Peninsula and temporally from about 3000 to 330 BC, when Alexander the Great conquered much of the area). They have had an enduring influence on Western civilization. While this article treats

Lamar, Lucius Q.c.

2004-11-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

Lamar was admitted to the bar in Georgia in 1847 and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives (1853). He moved to Mississippi in 1855 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

Hayden, Melissa

2004-11-04T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hayden began studying dance while a schoolgirl. In 1945 she went to New York City and found a position in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. Within a few months she had been accepted by the Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre)

Cabriole Leg

2004-11-03T17:44:00.000-08:00

The early

Sungari River

2004-11-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Sungari rises in the Ch'ang-pai Mountains in the border area between Kirin and North Korea. Its upper course runs north through rugged

Felsina

2004-11-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

Before Etruscan times the Bologna area was an important centre of Villanovan Iron Age cultures of the central

Azores

2004-10-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

Portuguese in full Arquipélago Dos Açores, archipelago composed of nine major islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean; they lie roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of Portugal and are a part of that nation. The islands, which have a total land area of 868 square miles (2,247 square km), are divided into three widely separated groups: the eastern group, consisting of São Miguel, Santa Maria, and the Formigas islets; the central, of Faial, Pico,

Straparola, Gianfrancesco

2004-10-31T02:37:00.000-08:00

Straparola's Piacevoli notti (1550–53; The Nights of Straparola) contains 75 novellas (short prose tales) that were later used as source material by William Shakespeare, Molière, and others; it introduced into European literature 20 folktales, among

Cordemoy, (louis-)géraud De

2004-10-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

French historian and philosopher, who showed considerable originality in his development of the general principles of physical theory. He introduced a new atomism into the mechanistic system of René Descartes by linking unity and substantiality; matter is homogeneous but contains a multiplicity of bodies each of which is an individual substance.

Mursilis I

2004-10-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

Mursilis was the adopted heir of his grandfather, Hattusilis I, whom he succeeded on the throne. He first continued his predecessor's campaigns in northern Syria, destroying Aleppo and delivering the final blow to Mari. He then turned eastward, and by raiding Babylon he put an end to the Amorite dynasty there.

Biological Development, Length and timing of the reproductive phase

2004-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Natural selection results in the production by one generation of offspring that are able to survive and reproduce themselves to form a further generation. The time unit appropriate to natural selection is therefore the generation interval. There will always be some natural selective pressure for the shortening of the generation interval, simply out of a natural

Mujahadah

2004-10-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

(Arabic: “striving”), in Sufism, struggle with the carnal self; the word is related to jihad (struggle), which is often understood as “holy war.” The Sufis refer to mujahadah as al-jihad al-akbar (the greater war) in contrast to al-jihad al-asghar (the minor war), which is waged against unbelievers. It is one of the major duties that a Sufi must perform throughout his mystical journey toward union

General Association Of Regular Baptist Churches

2004-10-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Association of independent, conservative Baptist churches in the United States, organized in 1932 after 22 Baptist churches withdrew from the Northern (later American) Baptist Convention. These churches withdrew because they felt that the Northern Baptists were accepting the teachings of the modernists, or liberals, who accepted biblical criticism and attempted

Switzerland, Economic expansion

2004-10-25T05:49:00.000-07:00

The unification of the Swiss economy both promoted and was promoted by the rail network that rapidly expanded as soon as the new constitution had been adopted. In 1847 the first railroad had opened between Zürich and Baden. The railways were built not according to central planning but through competition among private entrepreneurs. The result was an extensive network

Narodnost

2004-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Doctrine or national principle, the meaning of which has changed over the course of Russian literary criticism. Originally denoting simply literary fidelity to Russia's distinct cultural heritage, narodnost, in the hands of radical critics such as Nikolay Dobrolyubov, came to be the measure of an author's social responsibility, both in portraying the aspirations

Oakland

2004-10-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Town, seat (1872) of Garrett county, extreme western Maryland, U.S., in the Allegheny Mountains near the West Virginia border. Laid out in 1849, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad decided to build a rail line through the area, it became a popular tourist destination. Oakland remains at the centre of a resort and agricultural area. Trout fishing, hiking, boating, snow skiing, biking,

Biblical Literature, The significance of Elijah

2004-10-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

With the dynasty of Omri (c. 876–842), the prophetic movement begins to assume a position of tremendous importance in Israel and Judah. Omri (reigned c. 876–869) reestablished Israel's economic and military significance among the Syrian and Palestinian minor kingdoms, so much so that years after his death the Assyrians referred to the northern kingdom as “the land of Omri.” He is mentioned

ElasticSkin

Estate Agent Fitzrovia

Cloud-scraper

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, The Greeks

Kierkegaard, Søren

Guernsey

Music, African

Attalus, Priscus

Cambridge

China, Attacks on cultural figures

Obelisk

Swartberg

Daehlie, Bjørn

Mysticism, Union of opposites

Biblical Literature, The Letter of Paul to the Colossians

Jack-o'-lantern

Avocado

Race, Scientific classifications of race

Plummer's Disease

Russell's Viper

Childhood Disease And Disorder, Respiratory disorders

Tabasco

Atl, Doctor

Spring

Furniture, Near East and classical antiquity

X Ray

Ibn Babawayh

Rosenzweig, Franz

Yupik Language

Rabbula

Pithou, Pierre

Textile, Napping and shearing

Uberti, Farinata Degli

Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich

Tzu-kung

Biblical Literature, Uniqueness of John

Back Swimmer

O Dalaigh, Cearbhall

O Dalaigh, Cearbhall

Sanidinite Facies

Frederick (i)

Arts, Central Asian, Altaic tribes

Argentina, Porteños and gauchos

Kaduna

Lajes

Joubert, Petrus Jacobus

Cronin, A.j.

Andalusia

'arad

Biblical Literature, Prophetic themes and actions

Afghanistan, Mohammad Nader Shah (192933)

Aesthetics, Japan

Paestum

Rayon

Biblical Literature, The Revised Standard Version

Eakins, Thomas

Kabir

Puerto Rico, Flag Of

Burbage, Richard

Lens

India Rubber Plant

Great Dividing Range

Empiricism, In medieval philosophy

Tepic

Kirov, Sergey Mironovich

Actinium Series

Libya

Hydatidiform Mole

France, History Of, France from 1715 to 1789

Tadjoura, Gulf Of

Porsche, Ferdinand

Vaisheshika

Arts, Islamic, Architecture

Waitemata Harbour

Ghat

Kwangju

Roberts, Kenneth (lewis)

Sikhism, Canonical and noncanonical literature

Monasticism, Sikhism

Cotabato City

Afghanistan, Mohammad Nader Shah (192933)