CruelBrick

Estate Agent London

2006-10-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

Robert Irving Burns specialise in London Commercial and Residential property services, including estate agent london and estate agent central london. Their centrally located ground floor offices, minutes from Oxford Circus offer an ideal marketing base for your property.

Syllabic Verse

2005-03-18T00:25:00.000-08:00

In prosody, the metrical system that is most commonly used in English poetry. It is based on both the number of stresses, or accents, and the number of syllables in each line of verse. A line of iambic pentameter verse, for example, consists of five feet, each of which is an iamb (an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable). Although accentual-syllabic verse is very strictly

Extenuating Circumstance

2005-03-16T02:06:00.000-08:00

Many Anglo-American legal systems do not prescribe minimum punishments for all crimes. The judge is thus free to consider all the circumstances in setting the punishment up to a prescribed maximum. Some special circumstances

Pacific Ocean

2005-03-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

The wind and pressure systems of the Pacific conform closely with the so-called planetary system—i.e., the patterns of air pressure and the consequent wind patterns that develop in the atmosphere of the Earth as a result of its rotation (Coriolis force) and the inclination of its axis (ecliptic) toward the Sun. They are, in essence, a three-celled latitudinal arrangement

Eisenstaedt, Alfred

2005-03-13T04:03:00.000-08:00

Eisenstaedt served in the German army in World War I from 1916 to 1918, sustaining injuries in both legs. He became an enthusiastic

Ucayali River

2005-03-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

Spanish Río Ucayali, headwater of the Amazon, formed by the junction of the Apurímac and Urubamba rivers in east-central Peru. The Ucayali meanders northward from this junction for about 910 miles (1,465 km) through a densely forested floodplain east of the Andes to its junction with the Marañón River, 55 miles (90 km) south-southwest of Iquitos. This confluence is considered to mark the head of the Amazon.

Biochemistry

2005-03-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

Study of the chemical substances and processes that occur in plants, animals, and microorganisms and of the changes they undergo during development and life. It deals with the chemistry of life, and as such it draws on the techniques of analytical, organic, and physical chemistry, as well as those of physiologists concerned with the molecular basis of vital processes.

Demosthenes

2005-03-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

From this point on (354), Demosthenes' career is virtually the history of Athenian foreign policy. It was not very long before his oratorical skill made him, in effect, the leader of what today might be called the democratic party. Some interests, especially the wealthy, would have preferred an oligarchy instead of a democracy; many merchants would have preferred peace at

Amberina Glass

2005-03-04T22:54:00.000-08:00

Blended colour glass in which the lower part, a yellowish amber, merges into a ruby-red colour higher in the vessel. It was patented in 1883 for the New England Glass Company at East Cambridge, Mass., and was produced extensively there and by the successor company, the Libbey Glass Company at Toledo, Ohio, into the 1890s. The base metal was an amber glass containing some gold, and the

Yoshiyuki, Junnosuke

2005-03-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Japanese novelist and short-story writer (b. April 1, 1923, Okayama, Japan--d. July 26, 1994, Tokyo, Japan), explored human sexuality and prostitution as a means of understanding human relationships. His prize-winning works include the short story "Shuu" (1954; "Sudden Shower," 1972), and the novels Anshitsu (1969: The Dark Room, 1975) and Yugure made (1978: "Until Evening"), the latter of which won the Noma Literary Prize. Yoshiyuki,

Welsh Literary Renaissance

2005-03-01T03:20:00.000-08:00

Literary activity centring in Wales and England in the mid-18th century that attempted to stimulate interest in the Welsh language and in the classical bardic verse forms of Wales. The movement centred on Lewis, Richard, and William Morris, Welsh scholars who preserved ancient texts and encouraged contemporary poets to use strict metres of the ancient Welsh bards

Good Neighbor Policy

2005-02-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

Popular name for the Latin American policy pursued by the administration of the U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Suggested by the president's commitment “to the policy of the good neighbor” (first inaugural address, March 4, 1933), the approach marked a departure from traditional American interventionism. Through the diplomacy of Secretary of State Cordell Hull, the

Pullman, George M(ortimer)

2005-02-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Pullman moved to Chicago in 1855, accumulated some capital as a contractor, and began to devise a sleeping car. The first real Pullman car, the “Pioneer,” invented jointly with Pullman's friend Ben Field, appeared in 1865. It contained folding upper berths and seat

Uruguay

2005-02-23T00:48:00.000-08:00

Country located on the southeastern coast of South America. The second smallest nation on the continent, Uruguay has long been overshadowed politically and economically by the adjacent republics of Brazil and Argentina, with both of which it shares many cultural and historical similarities. “On the map, surrounded by its large neighbors, Uruguay seems tiny,” writes

Lussy, Melchior

2005-02-21T22:54:00.000-08:00

Representative of the Catholic cantons at the Council of Trent and at the courts of four popes—Paul IV, Pius IV, Gregory XIII, and Gregory XIV—Lussy devoted much of his life

Confessing Church

2005-02-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

German Bekennende Kirche, movement for revival within the German Protestant churches that developed during the 1930s from their resistance to Adolf Hitler's attempt to make the churches an instrument of National Socialist (Nazi) propaganda and politics. The German Protestant tradition of close cooperation between church and state, as well as dislike for the Weimar Republic that governed

Euclidean Geometry, Homotheties

2005-02-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

If two nonconcentric circles have centres A, B and unequal radii r, s, there are points I, E with [AIB], AI | IB ~ AE | EB ~ r | s. In consequence, the

Medicine, United States

2005-02-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Whereas in Britain the doctor of first contact is regularly a general practitioner, in the United States the nature of first-contact care is less consistent. General practice in the United States has been in a state of decline in the second half of the 20th century, especially in metropolitan areas. The general practitioner, however, is being replaced to some degree

Epistemology, General works

2005-02-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

The texts of the classics mentioned below for which specific editions have not been noted are available in many English-language translations; two notable collections are The Loeb Classical Library and Oxford Classical Text series.

Social War

2005-02-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

The allies in central and southern Italy had fought side by side with Rome in several wars and had grown restive under Roman autocratic rule, wanting instead Roman citizenship and the privileges it conferred. In 91 BC the Roman tribune Marcus Livius

Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan

2005-02-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

Chandrasekhar was the nephew of Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. Chandrasekhar

Gambier Islands

2005-02-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

French Îles Gambier, also called Mangareva Islands, southeasternmost extension of the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia in the central South Pacific, nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) east-southeast of Tahiti. The principal inhabited group of the Gambiers comprises the volcanic islets Mangareva (Magareva), Taravai, Akamaru, and Aukena. Mangareva, which is 5 miles (8 km) long and encircled by a barrier reef, rises to approximately

Yevreyskaya

2005-02-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Evreiskaia , also called Birobidzhan autonomous oblast (province) in Khabarovsk kray (region), far eastern Russia, occupying an area of 13,900 sq mi (36,000 sq km) in the basin of the middle Amur River. Most of the oblast consists of level plain, with extensive swamps, patches of swampy forest, and grassland on fertile soils, now largely plowed up. In the north and northwest are the hills of the Bureya Range and the Lesser Khingan,

Patiala

2005-01-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

City, administrative headquarters of Patiala district, Punjab state, northwestern India. The city lies on a major rail line, as well as on a branch of the Sirhind Canal. Founded in 1763 as the capital of the princely state of Patiala, it is a trade and industrial centre; weaving, cotton ginning, distilling, and manufacturing are among its industries. Punjabi University (established

Sarcoidosis

2005-01-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

Systemic disease of unknown cause that is characterized by the formation of granulation (scarlike) tissue. Sarcoidosis often disappears spontaneously within two or three years but may progress to involve more than one organ. It is observed in the lungs, lymph nodes, eyes, salivary glands, muscles, liver, spleen, and the connective tissues of the nervous system. Skin

Dosho

2005-01-26T00:02:00.000-08:00

Dosho served as a temple priest at Gango Temple, one of the great temples at Nara, until he left for China about 653. There he studied for eight years under the Buddhist monk Hsüan-tsang (Pinyin: Xuanzang), the founder of the Wei-shih (Ideation Only, or Consciousness Only) school, which

Kyodo Tsushinsha

2005-01-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: Cooperative News Agency) national news agency founded in November 1945 to replace the pre-World War II Domei tsushinsha (Federated News Agency), which had served as the official news service of the Japanese government since 1936. Despite competition from the beginning with the Jiji news agency, formed by Domei employees who did not join Kyodo, the latter gradually gained

Garrett, Pat

2005-01-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

Born in Alabama and reared in Louisiana, Garrett left home at about the age of 17 and headed for Texas and the life of a cowboy and buffalo hunter. In 1879 he married and settled in Lincoln County, N.M., where he became first deputy sheriff and then sheriff. In July 1881 he tracked

Baraboo

2005-01-20T00:51:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1840) of Sauk county, south-central Wisconsin, U.S. It lies on small hills 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Madison. Baraboo originated in the early 19th century as a trading post established by the French trapper Jean Baribault, who lived along the river that was named (somewhat phonetically) for him. Incorporated in 1882, the community developed as a distribution centre for dairy

Papinian

2005-01-18T19:39:00.000-08:00

Papinian held high public office under the emperor Septimius Severus (reigned AD 193–211) and became vice president of the Consilium Principis,

Biblical Literature, Persian and Hellenistic influences

2005-01-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

Some of the Apocrypha (e.g., Judith, Tobit) may have been written already in the Persian period (6th–4th century BCE), but, with these possible exceptions, all the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were written in the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC–c. AD 300). Yet the influence of Persian culture and religion sometimes can be detected even in comparatively late Jewish works, especially in Jewish apocalyptic

Concordat

2005-01-13T17:08:00.000-08:00

A pact, with the force of international law, concluded between the ecclesiastical authority and the secular authority on matters of mutual concern; most especially a pact between the pope, as head of the Roman Catholic church, and a temporal head of state for the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in the territory of the latter. Matters often dealt with in concordats

Arishtanemi

2005-01-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

While the last two Tirthanakaras may be considered historical personages, Arishtanemi is a legendary figure. Said to have lived 84,000 years before the coming of the next Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, he is believed to have been the contemporary and cousin of the Hindu god Krishna

Cuckoopint

2005-01-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

The cuckoopint grows from a whitish rootstock, which

Chernogorsk

2005-01-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Cernogorsk, city, Khakassia republic, south-central Russia, situated just west of the port of Podkunino on the Yenisey River. The city is the centre of mining in the Minusinsk coal basin, which has been in operation since before 1917. Consumer-goods industries are also important. Chernogorsk became a city in 1936. A mining college is located there. Pop. (1993 est.) 80,000.

Stone, Jesse

2005-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

American musician, songwriter, and rhythm-and-blues pioneer who, with his songs “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “Money Honey,” figured largely in the birth of rock and roll; he also wrote the jazz standard “Idaho” (b. Nov. 16, 1901, Atchison, Kan.—d. April 1, 1999, Altamonte Springs, Fla.).

Sotho

2005-01-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, most Sotho groups relied both on cultivation

Reformed League

2005-01-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Reformed League founded religious journals and institutions for the education

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

2004-12-31T11:41:00.000-08:00

Area of the Chihuahuan Desert in southeastern New Mexico, U.S., near the base of the Guadalupe Mountains (a segment of the Sacramento Mountains). It was established in 1923 as a national monument, designated a national park in 1930, and proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995. Beneath the park, which has a surface area of 73 square miles (189 square km), are 83 individual caves, including Carlsbad

China, The North China Plain

2004-12-28T05:45:00.000-08:00

Comparable in size to the Manchurian Plain, most of this plain lies at heights below 150 feet, and the relief is monotonously flat. It was formed by enormous sedimentary deposits brought down by the Huang Ho and Huai River from the Loess Plateau; the Quaternary deposits alone (i.e., those from 10,000 to 2,500,000 years old) reach thicknesses of 2,500 to 3,000 feet. The river channels, which are higher than

Swan

2004-12-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Largest waterfowl species of subfamily Anserinae, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). Most swans are classified in the genus Cygnus. Swans are gracefully long-necked, heavy-bodied, big-footed birds that glide majestically when swimming and fly with slow wingbeats and with necks outstretched. They migrate in diagonal formation or V-formation at great heights:

Gene

2004-12-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

Genes are composed of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), except in some viruses, which have genes consisting of a closely related compound called ribonucleic acid (RNA). A DNA molecule is composed of two chains of nucleotides

Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, Marquess And 10th Earl Of

2004-12-20T23:46:00.000-08:00

Dalhousie also took advantage of every opportunity to acquire territory by peaceful means. The East India Company, which was no longer an independent corporation but largely under the control of the British government, was rapidly becoming the predominant power in India. It had concluded alliances with Indian rulers, promising to support them and their heirs

Merbromin

2004-12-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Antiseptic used to prevent infection in small cuts and abrasions. Commonly marketed as Mercurochrome, merbromin was the first of a series of antiseptics that contained mercury, a chemical element that disinfects by disrupting the metabolism of a microorganism. Merbromin stains surrounding tissue a brilliant red tinged with a yellow-green fluorescence. It

Eiselsberg, Anton, Freiherr Von

2004-12-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

Eiselsberg studied medicine at Vienna, Würzburg, Zürich, and Paris. In 1884 he received his M.D. from Vienna, where he was a pupil of and assistant

Family, The

2004-12-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

Formerly Children of God, Teens for Christ , and The Family of Love millenarian Christian communal group that grew out of the ministry of David Berg (1919–1994) to the hippies who had gathered in Huntington Beach, California, in the late 1960s. It teaches a message of Christian love based on scripture and the prophecies of Berg. The focus of the first anticult organization—the Parents' Committee to Free Our Children from the Children of God

Bijapur

2004-12-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

City, northern Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India. An important site of medieval Indian Islamic architecture, it was formerly called Vijayapura (meaning “city of victory”) and was an important community under the Yadava dynasty for more than a century until 1294, when it became a provincial capital of the Bahmani. In 1489 with the advent of Yusuf 'Adil Shah, the first 'Adil

Earth Exploration, Geothermal methods

2004-12-09T00:47:00.000-08:00

Temperature-gradient measurements are sometimes made to detect heat-flow anomalies; however, most exploration for geothermal resources (e.g., superheated water and steam) is done with indirect methods. Resistivity or seismic methods, for example, may be used to map the magma chamber, which is the source of the heat, or to detect faults or other features that control

Kara-yo

2004-12-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

(Japanese: “Chinese style”), one of the three main Japanese styles of Buddhist temple architecture in the Kamakura period (1192–1333). Kara-yo originally followed Chinese forms that featured strict symmetry on a central axis. The word kara-yo is written with the character that stands for the Chinese T'ang dynasty (618–907), but the style seems to have represented the official building code

Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke Of, Earl Of Nottingham, Earl Marshal

2004-12-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

The son of John, 4th Lord Mowbray, Thomas was made Earl of Nottingham

Botvinnik, Mikhail Moiseyevich

2004-12-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

At the age of 14, less than two years after he had learned the moves of chess, Botvinnik defeated the then-current world champion, José Raúl Capablanca, in one game of an exhibition in which

Howard, Jean

2004-12-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

American actress and celebrity photographer (b. Oct. 13, 1910, Longview, Texas—d. March 20, 2000, Beverly Hills, Calif.), was an actress in films of the 1930s and '40s and later became a prominent socialite and a noted photographer of Hollywood's glamour set. She started in show business as a chorus girl, appearing in Florenz Ziegfeld's Broadway musical Whoopee in 1930 and Ziegfeld's last Follies (1931). A screen

Savannakhét

2004-11-28T23:49:00.000-08:00

Town in the central southern panhandle of Laos, on the left bank of the Mekong River. It had a teacher-training school (1911), a public high school (1946), a Buddhist secondary school, a trade school, and the Savannakhét Technical College before the 1975 communist takeover. Industries in the town included manufacturing of soft drinks, ice making, and a sawmill. There is an airport, and a road

Aalto, Alvar

2004-11-26T07:37:00.000-08:00

Aalto's architectural studies at the Technical Institute of Helsinki in Otaniemi, Fin., were interrupted by the Finnish War of Independence, in which he participated. Following his graduation in 1921, Aalto toured Europe and upon his return began practice in Jyväskylä, in central Finland. In 1927 he moved his office to Turku, where he worked in association with Erik Bryggman

Yurok

2004-11-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

Yurok villages were small; a village was a collection of independent houses owned by individual families rather than a unified community with an overall political authority. Village

Henderson, Arthur

2004-11-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

An iron molder at Robert Stephenson's locomotive works and foundry in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, Henderson became secretary of the Newcastle local of the

Systole And Diastole

2004-11-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

Diastole, the opposite of systole, is the lengthening of a short quantity or syllable for metric irregularity. The

Cicero

2004-11-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

City, western suburb of Chicago, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. First settled in the 1830s, it was named for Cicero, N.Y. Its development was stimulated when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was built through the site (1864) and by the arrival of land speculators and farmers after the American Civil War. Economic growth continued, but Cicero lost territory to

Plain Weave

2004-11-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

Also called Tabby Weave, simplest and most common of the three basic textile weaves. It is made by passing each filling yarn over and under each warp yarn, with each row alternating, producing a high number of intersections. Plain-weave fabrics that are not printed or given a surface finish have no right or wrong side. They do not ravel easily but tend to wrinkle and have less absorbency than

Näfels, Battle Of

2004-11-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

(April 9, 1388), major victory for the Swiss Confederation in the first century of its struggle for self-determination against Habsburg overlordship. Though the catastrophic defeat of the Austrians at Sempach in 1386 had been followed by a truce, hostilities against the Habsburgs were subsequently continued by the rebellious men of Glarus, a district that had adhered to the

Middlebury College

2004-11-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

Private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Middlebury, Vt., U.S. It is a small liberal arts college at which particular emphasis is given to the study of modern languages. Course work at Middlebury is divided into eight academic categories: literature, the arts, foreign languages, philosophical and religious studies, physical and life sciences, historical

Cranberry

2004-11-13T18:35:00.000-08:00

Fruit of any of several small creeping or trailing plants of the genus Vaccinium (family Ericaceae), related to the blueberries. The small-fruited, or northern, cranberry (V. oxycoccus) is found in marshy land in northern North America and Asia and in northern and central Europe. Its stems are wiry and creeping; the leaves are evergreen, oval or elliptical,

Pig

2004-11-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

Wild or domestic swine, a mammal of the Suidae family. In Britain, the term pig refers to all domestic swine; in the United States, to younger swine not yet ready for market and weighing usually less than 82 kg (180 pounds), others being called hogs. Pigs are stout-bodied, short-legged, omnivorous mammals, with thick skins usually sparsely coated with short bristles. Their hooves

Mellon Financial Corporation

2004-11-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

The original bank, T. Mellon and Sons Bank, was founded in 1869 by Thomas Mellon (1813–1908), a native of Ireland. One of his four sons, Andrew W. Mellon (1855–1937), joined the business in 1874 and proved so capable that the elder Mellon

Arabian Religion, North and central Arabia

2004-11-10T22:51:00.000-08:00

There are various populations to consider, differing in their languages and systems of writing, in their pantheons, and above all in their ways of life. Sedentary populations of merchants and farmers were settled in towns and oases, which were centres of developed civil and religious institutions. In sharp contrast with them were the breeders of sheep and

Robert, Shaaban

2004-11-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

Popular Swahili writer, Robert was the product of two cultures—his father was a Christian, but Shaaban returned to Islam. His work ranges from poetry to essay and didactic tale, influenced in style by the Oriental tradition. Many poems follow the form of utendi verse (used for narration and didactic themes),

Mcmillan, Edwin Mattison

2004-11-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

McMillan was educated at the California Institute of Technology and at Princeton University, where he

Heidelberg Jaw

2004-11-08T16:30:00.000-08:00

Also called Mauer Jaw, enigmatic human mandible, thought to be nearly 400,000 years old, found in 1907 in the great sand pit at Mauer, southeast of Heidelberg, Ger. Elephant and rhinoceros remains found in association indicate a warm climate; the jaw has been assigned to an early interstadial of the middle Pleistocene. The chinless mandible is massive and apelike, with ascending branches almost as broad

Novi Pazar

2004-11-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Serbia, Yugoslavia. It lies in the Raška River valley, in rough and hilly country near the site of Ras, which was the capital city of the medieval Serbian state in the 12th–14th century. In the vicinity are Roman baths, and the Church of St. Peter, one of the oldest in Yugoslavia (7th or 8th century), is an interesting example of early Slav architecture. A few miles west is

Anthropoidea

2004-11-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

Suborder of primates including the families Callitrichidae (marmoset, q.v.), Cebidae (New World monkeys), Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Hylobatidae (gibbon and siamang, qq.v.), Pongidae (gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan, qq.v.), Hominidae (humans and fossil relatives), and the fossil group Parapithecidae.

Fuchsia

2004-11-03T01:08:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 100 species of flowering shrubs and trees, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America and to New Zealand and Tahiti. Several species are grown in gardens as bedding plants, small shrubs, or miniature treelike specimens; others are grown as pot plants or in hanging baskets

Kagera River

2004-11-02T17:41:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Akagera, most remote headstream of the Nile River and largest tributary of Lake Victoria, rising in Burundi near the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika. It is formed at the confluence of its two headstreams—the Nyawarongo (Niavarongo) and the Ruvubu (Ruvuvu)—which in turn are fed by streams rising in the highlands east of Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika, between Congo (Kinshasa) and

Penelope

2004-11-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, a daughter of Icarius of Sparta and the nymph Periboea and wife of the hero Odysseus. In the Odyssey is told the story of how, during her husband's long absence after the Trojan War, many chieftains of Ithaca and nearby islands became her suitors. To spare herself their importunities she insists that they wait until she has woven a shroud for Laertes,

Nervous System Disease, Disorders of fat and fatty acid metabolism

2004-11-01T06:02:00.000-08:00

Many of the conditions mentioned in this and the next section are caused by a genetically determined enzyme

Magnus Vi

2004-10-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Magnus succeeded his father, Haakon IV Haakonsson, in 1263 and quickly made peace with the Scottish king Alexander

Rocky Mountains

2004-10-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

Two nontechnical, abundantly illustrated descriptions of the Rocky Mountains are William S. Ellis and Dick Durrance II, The Majestic Rocky Mountains (1976); and Bryce S. Walker et al., The Great Divide (1973, reissued 1985), covering the landforms, plant life, and early exploration of the American Rockies. The mountains are also treated in Mel Griffiths and Lynnell Rubright, Colorado: A Geography (1983); and American West, The Magnificent Rockies: Crest of a Continent (1973). Dennis Glick, Mary Carr, and Bert Harting, An Environmental Profile of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (1991), compiles baseline information on the ecological processes and components of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and discusses how the ecosystem's future is affected by current and proposed resource development plans. David V. Harris and Eugene P. Kiver, The Geologic Story of the National Parks and Monuments, 4th ed. (1985), chapters 8–11, covers the geologic history and special features of U.S. parks and monuments in the northern, middle, and southern Rockies and on the Colorado Plateau. Lawrence M. Ostresh, Jr., Richard A. Marston, and Walter M. Hudson, Wyoming Water Atlas (1990), although specifically about Wyoming water resources, treats issues that are typical throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

Guzmán, Martín Luis

2004-10-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

After studying law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, Guzmán joined the Mexican Revolution and served as a colonel in the revolutionary forces of Pancho Villa. From 1914 to 1934, he lived in exile in Madrid and New York

Earth Exploration, Gravity methods

2004-10-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

The gravity field of the Earth can be measured by timing the free fall of an object in a vacuum, by measuring the period of a pendulum, or in various other ways. Today almost all gravity surveying is done with gravimeters. Such an instrument typically consists of a weight attached to a spring that stretches or contracts corresponding to an increase or decrease in gravity.

Armillaria

2004-10-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

Genus of about 40 species of fungi of the order Agaricales (q.v.), in the class Basidiomycetes, found throughout northern North America and Europe, principally in forests of hardwoods or mixed conifers. In suitable environments, members of this genus may live for hundreds of years, and certain specimens have been identified as among the largest and oldest living

Gilbert Islands

2004-10-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

Formerly Kingsmill, group of 16 coral atolls, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean 2,800 mi (4,500 km) northeast of Australia. The islands—Makin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, and Arorae—occupy a total land area of 105 sq mi (272 sq km). Low-lying, they are covered with coconut palm and pandanus. Rainfall varies from 80 to

Henry

2004-10-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Unit of either self-inductance or mutual inductance, abbreviated h (or hy), and named for the American physicist Joseph Henry. One henry is the value of self-inductance in a closed circuit or coil in which one volt is produced by a variation of the inducing current of one ampere per second. One henry is also the value of the mutual inductance of two coils arranged such that

Rupat Island

2004-10-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Indonesian Pulau Rupat , Rupat also spelled Roepat island in the Strait of Malacca, Riau provinsi (province), Indonesia. It lies just off the eastern coast of Sumatra across a 3-mile- (5-kilometre-) wide channel, opposite Melaka, Malaysia. The island is very low and swampy and circular in shape, with a diameter of about 30 miles (48 km). The climate is hot and humid, and rainfall is heavy most of the year. Rupat Island is sparsely inhabited,

Euripides

2004-10-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Greek fleet is becalmed at Aulis and is thus unable to convey the expeditionary force against Troy. Agamemnon learns that he must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia as a means of appeasing the goddess Artemis, who has caused the unfavourable weather. Agamemnon lures his daughter into coming to Aulis to be sacrificed by pretending that she will marry Achilles.

Chronology

2004-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

The Christian Era is the era now in general use throughout the world. Its epoch, or commencement, is January 1, 754 AUC (ab urbe condita—“from the foundation of the city [of Rome]”—or anno urbis conditae—“in the year of the foundation of the city”). Christ's birth was at first believed to have occurred on the December 25 immediately preceding. Years are reckoned as before or after the Nativity,

Decorative Art

2004-10-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Any of those arts that are concerned chiefly with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities. Ceramics, glassware, basketry, jewelry, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and other such goods are the objects most commonly associated with the decorative arts. Many decorative

Ikot Ekpene

2004-10-20T02:48:00.000-07:00

Town, Akwa Ibom state, southern Nigeria. The town lies along the coastal highway, between Calabar and Aba. It is the chief trade centre (yams, cassava, taro, corn [maize], and palm produce) for a densely populated area known for its export of palm oil and kernels. It is mainly inhabited by the Anang branch of the Ibibio people, who are noted for their cane furniture and basket handicrafts.

Costello, Elvis

2004-10-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

The son of musicians, Costello was exposed to a mix of British and American styles—dance-hall pop to modern jazz to the Beatles—from an early age. During the early 1970s he lived in London, recording demos and performing locally while working as a computer

Asian Development Bank

2004-10-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

(ADB), organization established under the auspices of ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) that entered into force in August 1966. Thirty “regional” countries of South, Southeast, and East Asia and the South Pacific and 14 “nonregional” countries of western Europe and North America constitute the membership. Each member appoints

Nepalganj

2004-10-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Nepalgunj, town, southwestern Nepal. It is situated in the Tarai, a low, fertile plain northeast of Nanpara, India. Nepalganj is a trading centre for rice, wheat, corn (maize), oilseeds, and hides produced in the surrounding area. The largest town in western Nepal, it is 4 miles (6 km) from a railway terminus across the border in India. It also has road connections to villages to the west and to a nearby

Obando, José María

2004-10-15T05:42:00.000-07:00

Obando fought for the Spanish crown during most of the Latin-American war for independence. He finally joined Simón Bolívar's revolutionary forces but opposed Bolívar's centralist

Negritude

2004-10-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

French Négritude literary movement of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s that began among French-speaking African and Caribbean writers living in Paris as a protest against French colonial rule and the policy of assimilation. Its leading figure was Léopold Sédar Senghor (elected first president of the Republic of Senegal in 1960), who, along with Aimé Césaire from Martinique and Léon Damas from French Guiana,

Minbar

2004-10-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Muhammad originally delivered his khutbahs while leaning against a palm-trunk pillar in the mosque at Medina. Hadith (accounts of

Biblical Literature, Persian and Hellenistic influences

2004-10-13T05:46:00.000-07:00

Brazil, Drainage

2004-10-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

Brazil is drained by the Amazon River, which is the centrepiece of the most extensive river system in the world, and by other systems that are notable in their own right—the Tocantins-Araguaia in the north, the Paraguay-Paraná-Plata in the south, and the São Francisco in the east and northeast. Numerous smaller rivers and streams drain directly eastward to the Atlantic

Malabarese Catholic Church

2004-10-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

A Chaldean rite church of southern India (Kerala) that united with Rome after the Portuguese colonization of Goa at the end of the 15th century. The Portuguese viewed these Christians of St. Thomas, as they called themselves, as Nestorian heretics, despite their traditional alignment with Rome since about the 6th century. Although the Malabarese formally acknowledged

Biblical Literature, Commutation of vows and tithes

2004-10-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

In the final chapter of Leviticus (27), the P material is resumed with a presentation of the rules for the commutation of votive gifts and tithes. It provides for the release from vows (of offerings of persons, animals, or lands to God) through specified money payments. Some commentators understand the vow to offer persons to refer originally to human sacrifice, others as

African Literature, Xhosa

2004-10-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

As in Zulu literature, the themes of the heroic past and of the opposition between beneficent tradition and harsh modernity are much in evidence. The question of how best to come to terms with change is also central in Xhosa literature. Much important early writing, expressing Xhosa aspirations and views on Christianity and tradition, appeared in the Xhosa-language

Moraceae

2004-10-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

The mulberry family of the nettle order (Urticales), with about 40 genera and some 1,000 species of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, distributed mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. Plants of the family contain a milky latex and have alternate or opposite leaves and small, petalless male or female flowers. The fruits of many species are multiple because fruits

Price, Lloyd

2004-10-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

Price's recording of his composition

Aeschylus

2004-10-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first and only surviving play of a trilogy probably put on in 463. It was long believed by scholars that Suppliants (Greek Hiketides; Latin Supplices) was one of Aeschylus' earliest plays because of its archaic structure; its chorus, representing the daughters of Danaus (the Danaïds), takes the leading role in the action. But there is now evidence that the trilogy