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Serviced Offices UK

2006-07-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

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Dendrocolaptidae

2005-11-19T05:55:00.000-08:00

Songbird family, order Passeriformes, consisting of a number of brownish birds of the forest or brushland and found from Mexico through South America. Representative members are the scythebill and the woodcreeper (qq.v.).

Juan Carlos

2005-10-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

Juan Carlos was the grandson of the last king, Alfonso XIII, who left Spain in 1931 and died in exile 10 years later, after renouncing his rights in favour of his third son, Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg, conde de

Cacomistle

2005-07-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Also spelled Cacomixl (Bassariscus), either of two species of large-eyed, long-tailed carnivores related to the raccoon (family Procyonidae). Cacomistles are grayish brown with lighter underparts and white patches over their eyes. The total length is about 60–100 cm (24–40 inches), about half of which is the bushy, black-and-white-ringed tail. The animals weigh about 1 kg (2.2 pounds) and have small faces with long

Elijah's Cup

2005-07-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

In Judaism, the fifth ceremonial cup of wine poured during the family Seder dinner on Passover (Pesah). It is left untouched in honour of Elijah, who, according to tradition, will arrive one day as an unknown guest to herald the advent of the Messiah. During the Seder dinner, biblical verses are read while the door is briefly opened to welcome Elijah, who, it is further said,

Bean, Roy

2005-07-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

For much of his life from the time he left his Kentucky home in 1847, Bean moved from town to town—in Mexico, Southern California, New Mexico, and Texas—getting into and fleeing from one scrape after another, killing at least two men in duels. During the Civil

Wellesley Islands

2005-07-07T01:10:00.000-07:00

Group of islands lying off the northwestern coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Sighted in 1644 by the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, they were charted (1802–03) by the British navigator Matthew Flinders and named in honour of Marquess Wellesley (Richard Colley Wellesley), then governor-general of India. The islands are generally rocky or sandy and are covered

Calculus

2005-07-01T03:45:00.000-07:00

Branch of mathematical analysis concerned with the rates of change of continuous functions as their arguments change. Two men are now credited with discovering calculus, Sir Isaac Newton of England and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz of Germany. For almost a century, development of the subject was inhibited by a bitter controversy over priority between supporters

New Age Movement

2005-06-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Movement that spread through the occult and metaphysical religious communities in the 1970s and '80s. It looked forward to a “New Age” of love and light and offered a foretaste of the coming era through personal transformation and healing. The movement's strongest supporters were followers of modern esotericism, a religious perspective that is based on the acquisition

Trigonal System

2005-06-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Components of crystals in the trigonal system, like those of the hexagonal system, are located by reference to four axes—three of equal length with 120° intersections and one perpendicular to the plane

Dózsa Rebellion

2005-06-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

During the reign of King Vladislas II (1490–1516), royal power declined in favour of the magnates, who used their power to curtail the peasants' freedom. When the cardinal Tamás Bakócz called for volunteers to go on a crusade against

Venkataraman, Ramaswamy

2005-06-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

Venkataraman studied law at the University of Madras and began his legal practice in 1935. He became involved in India's independence struggle and was consequently jailed by the British (1942–44). After his release he continued to practice law,

Aquamarine

2005-05-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Japan Air Lines was at first a domestic carrier, but it became an international airline in

Athenry

2005-05-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Irish Baile Átha An Rí (“Town of the King's Ford”) market town, County Galway, Ireland. It was founded in the 13th century during the Anglo-Norman colonization. Much of the medieval town wall (1211) survives, together with the keep of the castle (1235) and part of the Dominican priory (founded 1241), which was specifically exempted from Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. Pop. (1986) 1,642.

Welland

2005-05-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

City, regional municipality of Niagara, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies along the Welland River and Welland Ship Canal. During the War of 1812 the area was the scene of several battles between British-Canadian and American forces. Founded as The Aqueduct by loyalists around the first Welland Canal (completed 1829), the settlement was renamed Merrittsville in 1842 after William

Spooner, John (coit)

2005-03-15T02:39:00.000-08:00

Spooner moved to Wisconsin as a youth. After service in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was admitted to the bar (1867). He began a law practice at Hudson, Wis., and eventually became best known in legal circles as counsel for railroad interests.

Basavan

2005-03-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

An outstanding Mughal painter, renowned as a superb colourist and as a sensitive observer of human nature. His name indicates that he may have been a member of the Ahir, or cowherders' caste, in the region of modern Uttar Pradesh. He was most active between about 1580 and 1600, and his name appears on the margins of more than 100 paintings, most often as the designer, in

Bantu Languages

2005-03-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

A group of some 500 languages belonging to the Bantoid subgroup of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The Bantu languages are spoken in a very large area, including most of Africa from southern Cameroon eastward to Kenya and southward to the southernmost tip of the continent. Twelve Bantu languages are spoken by more than five million people,

Fr�chette, Louis-honor�

2005-03-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

Fr�chette studied law at Laval University, Quebec, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. Discharged as a journalist for liberal views, he went to Chicago (1866 - 71). There, he wrote La Voix d'un exil� (1866 - 68; �The Voice of an Exile�), a poem attacking the political and clerical dealings in Quebec

Bottomry

2005-03-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

A maritime contract (now almost obsolete) by which the owner of a ship borrows money for equipping or repairing the vessel and, for a definite term, pledges the ship as security - it being stipulated that if the ship be lost in the specified voyage or period, by any of the perils enumerated, the lender shall lose his money. A similar contract creating a security interest

Abbot, Charles Greeley

2005-03-03T05:59:00.000-08:00

The youngest of four children of a New Hampshire farming family,

Ligne, Charles-joseph, Prince De

2005-03-01T05:46:00.000-08:00

The son of Claude Lamoral, prince de Ligne, head of a family long established in Hainaut

Builth Wells

2005-02-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Welsh �Llanfair ym Muallt� market town, Powys county, historic county of Brecknockshire (Sir Frycheiniog), Wales, in the upper Wye valley. The Normans made the surrounding district of Buellt a marcher lordship (i.e., part of the political buffer zone between Wales and England) and constructed a fine motte-and-bailey castle at Builth. But the town and castle suffered severely from Welsh attacks, notably

Albany, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke Of

2005-02-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

The third son of Robert II of Scotland, he was made high chamberlain of Scotland in 1382 and won a military reputation in campaigns against England.

Balance

2005-02-26T01:03:00.000-08:00

The invention of the equal-arm balance dates back at least to the time of the ancient Egyptians, possibly as early as 5000 BC. In the earliest types, the beam was supported at the centre and the pans were hung from the ends by cords. A later improvement

Augustus

2005-02-25T01:18:00.000-08:00

Elector of Saxony and leader of Protestant Germany who, by reconciling his fellow Lutherans with the Roman Catholic Habsburg Holy Roman emperors, helped bring the initial belligerency of the Reformation in Germany to an end. Under his administration Saxony enjoyed economic and commercial prosperity at a time when

Earth Exploration

2005-02-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

Texts on methodology and discoveries in Earth exploration include Arthur W. Rose, Herbert E. Hawkes, and John S. Webb, Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert F. Legget and Allen W. Hatheway, Geology and Engineering, 3rd ed. (1988); Sampling of Soil and Rock (1971), published by the American Society for Testing and Materials; Martin H.P. Bott, Interior of the Earth: Its Structure, Constitution, and Evolution, 2nd ed. (1982); George D. Garland, Introduction to Geophysics: Mantle, Core, and Crust, 2nd ed. (1979); Robert E. Sheriff (compiler), Encyclopedic Dictionary of Exploration Geophysics, 3rd ed. (1991); Robert E. Sheriff, Geophysical Methods (1989); Robert E. Sheriff and L.P. Geldart, Exploration Seismology, 2 vol. (1982 - 83); W.M. Telford, L.P. Geldart, and Robert E. Sheriff, Applied Geophysics, 2nd ed. (1980); Chuji Tsuboi, Gravity (1983; originally published in Japanese, 1979); W.D. Parkinson, Introduction to Geomagnetism (1983); J.A. Jacobs, A Textbook on Geonomy (1974); and Floyd F. Sabins, Jr., Remote Sensing: Principles and Interpretation, 2nd ed. (1987).

Winterthur

2005-02-23T08:11:00.000-08:00

City, Z�rich canton, northern Switzerland. It lies in a wooded basin east of the T�ss River, northeast of Z�rich city. The Roman settlement of Vitodurum was on the site of the city's northeastern suburb of Ober-Winterthur. Winterthur was founded about 1175 by the counts of Kyburg, who granted it a charter with extensive privileges. It was inherited in 1264 by the Habsburgs, who sold

Jujuy

2005-02-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

Provincia, extreme northwestern Argentina, bordering Chile (west) and Bolivia (north), having an area of 20,548 square miles (53,219 square km). It comprises several cordilleras of the Andes - reaching elevations of 16,500 feet (5,000 m) and separated by a bleak plateau 11,500 feet (3,500 m) high called the Puna de Atacama - that descend on the east to form sub-Andean ranges and valleys. The eastern Andean and sub-Andean

Tactical Weapons System

2005-02-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

System integrating tactical weapons with electronic equipment for target acquisition, aiming, or fire control or a combination of such purposes. Tactical weapons are designed for offensive or defensive use at relatively short range with relatively immediate consequences. They include weapons used for antitank assault, antiaircraft defense, battlefield

Fusaro, Lake Of

2005-02-20T06:11:00.000-08:00

Italian �Lago Del Fusaro, � coastal lagoon in Napoli provincia, Campania regione, southern Italy, west of Naples. The lagoon is separated from the sea on the west by sand dunes. As the ancient Palus Acherusia (�Acherusian Swamp�), it may have been the harbour of nearby Cumae in antiquity. In the first century AD, an outlet was dug at its southern end, with a tunnel under the hill of Torre Gaveta; another outlet

Bilandic, Michael Anthony

2005-02-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

American politician and judge (b. Feb. 13, 1923, Chicago, Ill. - d. Jan. 15, 2002, Chicago), succeeded Richard J. Daley as mayor of Chicago and later served as chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Bilandic had been a corporate lawyer for 28 years and was serving as chairman of Chicago's City Council finance committee by the time Mayor Daley died in his sixth term in office in December 1976. The City

Alcamenes

2005-02-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

Sculptor and younger contemporary of Phidias, noted for the delicacy and finish of his works, among which a Hephaestus and an �Aphrodite of the Gardens� are noteworthy. A copy of the head of his �Hermes Propylaeus� at Pergamum has been identified by an inscription, and he is said by the Greek traveler Pausanias (2nd century

Lenau, Nikolaus

2005-02-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

Severe depression and dissatisfaction characterized Lenau's life. He began, but never completed, studies in law, medicine, and philosophy. A legacy in 1830 enabled him to devote himself to writing.

Gruppe 47

2005-02-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

English �Group 47 � informal association of German-speaking writers that was founded in 1947 (hence its name). Gruppe 47 originated with a group of war prisoners in the United States who were concerned with reestablishing the broken traditions of German literature. Feeling that Nazi propaganda had corrupted their language, they advocated a style of sparse, even cold, descriptive realism

Metamorphosis

2005-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

In biology, striking change of form or structure in an individual after hatching or birth. Hormones called molting and juvenile hormones, which are not species specific, apparently regulate the changes. These physical changes as well as those involving growth and differentiation are accompanied by alterations of the organism's physiology, biochemistry, and

Sea Cave

2005-02-14T04:55:00.000-08:00

Cave formed in a cliff by wave action of an ocean or lake. Sea caves occur on almost every cliffed headland or coast where the waves break directly on a rock cliff and are formed by mechanical erosion rather than the chemical solution process that is responsible for the majority of inland caves. Zones of weakness in the cliff give way under the force of the waves and

Olson, Charles (john)

2005-02-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

Olson was educated at Wesleyan University, where he earned an M.A. in 1933. He taught at Clark University, Harvard University, and Radcliffe College, but his real influence began in the late 1940s as an instructor and then as rector (1951 - 56) at Black

Zetterling, Mai Elisabeth

2005-02-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

Swedish actress and director (b. May 24, 1925, Vasteras, Sweden--d. March 15?, 1994, London, England), was a popular stage and screen actress in post-World War II Britain; in the 1960s she became a successful film director. Zetterling grew up in poverty and was largely self-educated. Her stage debut at age 16 earned her an invitation to join the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm. She gained international

Oral

2005-02-11T22:40:00.000-08:00

Russian �Uralsk�, also spelled �Ural'sk� city, western Kazakhstan, along the Ural (Zhayyq) River. Founded in 1613 or 1622 by Cossacks fleeing a tsarist punitive campaign, it was known as Yaitsky Gorodok until 1775, when its name was changed following the Pugachov Rebellion. The town was a centre of both the Stenka Razin (1667) and Yemelyan Pugachov (1773) uprisings and was the headquarters of the Ural Cossacks. It had a lively trade with

Cell Culture

2005-02-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

The maintenance and growth of the cells of multicellular organisms outside the body in specially designed containers and under precise conditions of temperature, humidity, nutrition, and freedom from contamination. In a broad sense, cells, tissues, and organs that are isolated and maintained in the laboratory are considered the objects of tissue culture. The

Ray, John

2005-02-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Ray also spelled �(until 1670) Wray � leading 17th-century English naturalist and botanist who contributed significantly to progress in taxonomy. His enduring legacy to botany was the establishment of species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy.

Kashmir, Vale Of

2005-02-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

Scenic intermontane valley between the main Himalayan ranges (northeast) and the Pir Panjal Range (southwest), in northwestern India. The valley is an ancient lake basin 85 mi (140 km) long, 20 mi wide, and 5,300 ft (1,620 m) high. Drained by the upper Jhelum River, the valley is lined by 12,000 - 16,000-ft-high mountains that help shelter it from the wet southwest monsoon. It is the centre of population for the Kashmir

Dewey, George

2005-02-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., in 1858, Dewey was commissioned a lieutenant three years later. In the U.S. Civil War (1861 - 65), he served with Union naval forces in the battles of New Orleans (1862) and Port Hudson and Donaldsonville,

Sorolla Y Bastida, Joaqu�

2005-02-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

Sorolla was from a poor family and was orphaned at age two. He displayed an early talent and was admitted to the Academy of San Carlos in Valencia at

N�stved

2005-02-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

City, Storstr�m amtskommune (county commune), southern Sj�lland (Zealand), Denmark, on the Sus� River. N�stved originated around a Benedictine monastery, founded in 1135. The monks moved at the end of the 12th century, and the town developed as a market centre for southern Sj�lland (chartered 1426). Chief among its medieval landmarks are Sankt Peder Church, the only survival of the

Tributyl Phosphate

2005-02-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

An organic liquid solvent used in the extraction of uranium and plutonium salts from reactor effluents, as a solvent for nitrocellulose and cellulose acetate, and as a heat-exchange medium. A phosphorus-containing compound with molecular formula (C4H9)3PO4, it is prepared by reaction of phosphorus oxychloride with butyl alcohol. Tributyl phosphate is corrosive to

Lockwood, Belva Ann

2005-02-02T00:17:00.000-08:00

Belva Bennett attended country schools until she was 15 and then taught in them until her marriage in 1848 to Uriah H. McNall, who died in 1853. She then resumed teaching and continued her own education. She graduated from Genesee College

Ucayali

2005-02-01T01:42:00.000-08:00

Departamento of eastern Peru (until 1980 part of Loreto department) spanning the upper and middle sections of the meandering Ucayali River, a principal tributary of the Amazon. Formerly a very isolated area of Peru, Ucayali department experienced rapid population growth (particularly at Pucallpa [q.v.], the departmental capital) after 1945 with the completion of a road system

Utilitarianism

2005-01-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

In normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness - not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it. Such a theory

Paeroa

2005-01-30T23:55:00.000-08:00

Borough, northern North Island, New Zealand, situated along the Ohinemuri River near its junction with the Waihou. Paeroa (from a Maori word meaning �long ridge�) was founded in the early 1880s as a port for the Ohinemuri goldfield, 5 mi (8 km) southeast. Mining was shifted to the underground Komata Reefs (6 mi northeast) from 1891 to the 1930s. Gazetted a borough in 1915, Paeroa was regularly served

Arts, Central Asian, Architecture

2005-01-29T05:08:00.000-08:00

There is only one Nepalese architectural style, varied according to its function as private dwelling, palace, Buddhist monastery, or Buddhist or Hindu temple. The style is the protracted local flowering of an Indian architectural tradition - of brick and wood architecture with tiered, sloping roofs - other varieties of which are found in the western Himalayas and

Epilobium

2005-01-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

The hairy willow herb, or codling-and-cream

Tepee

2005-01-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Tipi, � tall tent dwelling of the Indians of the American Great Plains. Although it is often thought to be the dwelling used by all North American Indians, only the Plains tribes, representing about one-fifth of them, ever used the tepee, and they only for the last two or three hundred years. The introduction of horses, guns, and metal knives by the Spanish in the early 18th century

Bradley, James

2005-01-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

Bradley was educated

A-pao-chi

2005-01-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

Elected to a three-year term as great khan of the Khitans, A-pao-chi refused to resign at the end of his term but made himself king of the Khitan nation. After the collapse in 907 of T'ang rule in China, A-pao-chi made himself emperor and by 916 had set up a Chinese-style dynasty, with

Clark, Mark

2005-01-24T20:05:00.000-08:00

A graduate (1917) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Clark served overseas in World War I. Early in 1942 he became chief of staff of army ground forces. Later that year, as deputy commander in chief

Moley, Raymond (charles)

2005-01-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

After graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College in his hometown, Moley took a job as superintendent of schools at Olmstead Falls, Ohio. He then attended Oberlin College, where he received his master's degree in

Earth

2005-01-22T01:42:00.000-08:00

The Earth's steady magnetic field is produced by many sources, both above and below the planet's surface. From the core outward, these include the geomagnetic dynamo, crustal magnetization, ionospheric dynamo, ring current, magnetopause current, tail current, field-aligned currents, and auroral electrojets. The geomagnetic dynamo is the most important source because,

Chacao

2005-01-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

City, northwestern Miranda state, northern Venezuela. The city, in a valley in the central highlands, was formerly a commercial centre in an agricultural area producing coffee, corn (maize), sugarcane, and fruit. With the growth of the national capital, it has become a residential and commercial part of the Caracas metropolitan area. Highways and expressways connect

Ear, Human

2005-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

A.J. Hudspeth, �How the Ear's Works Work,� Nature, 341(6241):397 - 404 (Oct. 5, 1989), gives an account of the role of hair cells in hearing. Further details are found in Lewis G. Tilney and Mary S. Tilney, �Actin Filaments, Stereocilia, and Hair Cells: How Cells Count and Measure,� Annual Review of Cell Biology, 8:257 - 274 (1992). As an accessible introduction to the clinical concerns of otology and audiology, John Ballantyne, M.C. Martin, and Antony Martin (eds.), Deafness, 5th ed. (1993), remains unsurpassed. For detailed, up-to-date treatments of other topics and problems considered in this section, the series Springer Handbook of Auditory Research is highly recommended, especially vol. 1, The Mammalian Auditory Pathway: Neuroanatomy, ed. by Douglas B. Webster, Arthur N. Popper, and Richard R. Fay (1992), vol. 2, The Mammalian Auditory Pathway: Neurophysiology, ed. by Arthur N. Popper and Richard R. Fay (1992), vol. 7, Clinical Aspects of Hearing, ed. by Thomas R. Van de Water, Arthur N. Popper, and Richard R. Fay (1996), and vol. 8, The Cochlea, ed. by Peter Dallos, Arthur N. Popper, and Richard R. Fay (1996). Information on the anatomy and physiology of the vestibular system and the disorders, peripheral and central, that can affect it may be found in the still-useful work by Ralph F. Naunton (ed.), The Vestibular System (1975).

Dewantoro, Ki Hadjar

2005-01-19T07:45:00.000-08:00

Dewantoro was born into a noble family of Jogjakarta

Croix De Guerre

2005-01-18T09:32:00.000-08:00

(French: �War Cross�), French military decoration created in 1915 and 1939 to reward feats of bravery, either by individuals or groups, in the course of the two World Wars. This medal may be conferred on any member of the armed forces, on French citizens and foreigners who have been mentioned in army dispatches, and, in special cases, on military units and towns. During World War II there

Philosophy, History Of, Epistemology of appearance

2005-01-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

All of the post-Parmenidean philosophers, like Parmenides himself, presupposed that the real world is different from the one that men perceive. Thus the problems of epistemology, or theory of knowledge, arose. According to Anaxagoras, everything is contained in everything. But this is not what people perceive. He solved this problem, however, by assuming that, if there

Mahavamsa

2005-01-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

The text - written in

Arabia, History Of, The Hejaz

2005-01-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

The Meccan sharifs were merely the nominees of Egypt until 1840, when the Egyptians evacuated Arabia. Thereafter the sharifs were usually semiautonomous beside the Ottoman governors of the Hejaz. Improved communications after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed the Ottoman Empire to send troops by sea to Arabia. An attempt to establish direct administration

Bulbourethral Gland

2005-01-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

Also called �Cowper's Gland, � either of two pea-shaped glands in the male, located beneath the prostate gland at the beginning of the internal portion of the penis; they add fluids to semen during the process of ejaculation (q.v.). The glands, which measure only about 1 cm (0.4 inch) in diameter, have ducts that empty into the urethra, the tube through which both urine and semen pass. They are composed of a network

V�is�l�, Yrj�

2005-01-13T02:19:00.000-08:00

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1922, V�is�l� joined the faculty of the Geodetic Institute of Turku University (1925) and worked as an astronomer and surveyor, completing a magnetic survey of the Earth and inventing

Hughes, Howard (robard)

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

He studied at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, and later at the Rice Institute of Technology, Houston. Orphaned at 17, he quit school and

Sail

2005-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

The first sails were most likely animal skins that were used to harness wind power for rafts or boats consisting of a single log. The next probable step was the use of woven reed mats stretched between poles. Depictions of cloth sails appear in predynastic (c. 3300 BC) Egyptian art, and

North Germanic Languages

2005-01-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

There are many-volumed native dictionaries for each language. Only some bilingual dictionaries are listed here: Jens Axelsen (ed.), The Standard Danish-English, English-Danish Dictionary (1986); Vincent Petti et al., Norstedts Comprehensive Swedish-English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1993), and Norstedts Comprehensive English-Swedish Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1994); Willy A. Kirkeby, English-Norwegian Dictionary (1995), and Norsk-engelsk ordbok, 2nd ed. (1986); Einar Haugen (ed.), Norwegian English Dictionary, 4th ed. (1995), with entries in both the Norwegian languages; Arngr�mur Sigurdhsson, Icelandic-English Dictionary, 4th ed. (1983); G.T. Zo�ga, English-Icelandic Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1945, reprinted 1954); and Annfinnur � Sk�la, Jonhard Mikkelsen, and Zakarias Wang, Ensk-f�roysk ordhab�k (1992).

Calculator

2005-01-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

Machine for automatically performing arithmetical operations and certain mathematical functions. Modern calculators are descendants of a digital arithmetic machine devised by Blaise Pascal in 1642. Later in the 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz created a more advanced machine, and, especially in the late 19th century, inventors produced calculating machines

Chincha Islands

2005-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Spanish �Islas De Chincha, � island group that is part of Los Libertadores-Wari regi�n, Peru. Located in the Pacific Ocean 13 miles (21 km) off Peru's southwestern coast, the three small islands are situated to the northwest of Paracas Bay and west-northwest of the city of Pisco. They have extensive guano deposits, which have been exploited for fertilizer.

Skelton, John

2005-01-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

His place of birth and childhood

Celery-top Pine

2005-01-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

Also called �Adventure Bay Pine� (species Phyllocladus asplenifolius), slow-growing ornamental and timber conifer of the family Podocarpaceae, native to temperate rain forests of Tasmania at elevations from sea level to 750 m (2,500 feet). The tree is shrubby at high elevations but may grow to 18 m (60 feet) and occasionally 30 m (100 feet) in lower areas. The irregularly arranged branches bear

Lode

2005-01-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

In mining, ore body disseminated within definite boundaries in unwanted rock. See vein.

Family

2005-01-03T23:22:00.000-08:00

A group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The family group should be distinguished from a household, which may include boarders and roomers sharing a common residence. It should

La Taille, Jean De

2005-01-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

While studying in Paris La Taille came under the influence, shown in his minor poems, of Pierre de Ronsard and Joachim du Bellay. His chief poems, prosaic but forceful, are

Fryer, Robert

2005-01-01T19:15:00.000-08:00

American theatrical and film producer (b. Dec. 18, 1920, Washington, D.C. - d. May 28, 2000, Los Angeles, Calif.), staged some of Broadway's most popular productions from the 1950s to the 1980s. Fryer got his start on Broadway in 1951 as a co-producer, with George Abbott, of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. He went on to produce such hits as Wonderful Town (1958), Sweet Charity (1966), Chicago (1975), and Merrily We Roll Along (1981). His Broadway shows

Blood Fluke

2004-12-31T23:31:00.000-08:00

Any of certain parasitic flatworms that live in the veins of the host organism. See fluke.

Computers, Early experiments

2004-12-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

As the technology for realizing a computer was being honed by the business machine companies in the early 20th century, the theoretical foundations were being laid in academia. During the 1930s, two important strains of computer-related research were being pursued at two universities in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One strain produced the Differential Analyzer, the other

Oberth, Hermann (julius)

2004-12-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

The son of a prosperous physician, Oberth studied medicine in Munich, but his education was interrupted by service in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. After being wounded in the war, he found time to pursue

Indian Territory

2004-12-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

Originally �all of that part of the United States west of the Mississippi, and not within the States of Missouri and Louisiana, or the Territory of Arkansas.� Never an organized territory, it was soon restricted to the present state of Oklahoma, excepting the panhandle and Greer county. The Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes were forcibly moved to

Aerospace Industry, Between the wars

2004-12-27T15:07:00.000-08:00

The world's aircraft industry fell into sharp decline following the Armistice. Within days most contracts were canceled. The wartime-oriented industry was overcapitalized, overstocked with raw materials, overorganized, and overmanned for peacetime needs. In Europe, national governments realized that maintaining a strong air force in case of war required an

Shifting Agriculture

2004-12-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

System of cultivation that preserves soil fertility by plot (field) rotation, as distinct from crop rotation. In shifting agriculture a plot of land is cleared and cultivated for a short period of time; then it is abandoned and allowed to revert to its natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated

Chaillu Massif

2004-12-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

Mountain range in south-central Gabon, rising to more than 3,300 feet (1,000 m) between the Ngouni� and the Ogoou� rivers; it forms the country's main watershed. The range contains Mount Milondo (3,346 feet [1,020 m]), the highest peak in Gabon, 53 miles (85 km) southwest of Koula-Moutou. Other high points in the range are Mount Iboundji (3,215 feet [980 m]) and Mount Mimongo (2,822 feet [860 m]). The granite massif is named for the explorer

Tyrone

2004-12-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

Former (until 1973) county, Northern Ireland. It was bounded by the former counties of Londonderry (north) and Fermanagh and Monaghan (south), and by former County Armagh and Lough (lake) Neagh (east). It had an area of 1,260 square miles (3,263 square km). In the north, the Sperrin Mountains rise to 2,224 feet (678 m), the highest peaks being Sawel and Mullaghcloga. To the southwest, Bessy Bell (1,387 feet) and Mary Gray

Smith, Emmitt

2004-12-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

Smith excelled early in football, starring in youth leagues and,

China, The Tung (Eastern) Chin (317 - 420) and later dynasties in the south (420 - 589)

2004-12-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

During the whole medieval period it was the lower Yangtze region, the former territory of Wu, that remained the stronghold of a series of �legitimate� Chinese dynasties with Chien-k'ang as their capital. In 317 a member of the Chin Imperial family had set up a refugee regime at Chien-k'ang, consisting mainly of members of the exiled northern aristocracy. From the beginning,

Francis (i)

2004-12-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

He was appointed head of government in 1564 while his father, Cosimo I, was still alive; and he succeeded his father as grand duke in 1574. The title was not precisely legitimate since it had been bestowed by the

Davies, Samuel

2004-12-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Davies was educated at Samuel Blair's �log college� at Fagg's Manor, Pa., and was ordained in 1747. His work during the Great Awakening centred at Hanover, Va.; in

Uitlander

2004-12-19T14:55:00.000-08:00

(Afrikaans: �outlander�), any British or other non-Afrikaner immigrant in the Transvaal region in the 1880s and '90s. The prospect of gold lured large numbers of newcomers to Johannesburg, where they became a majority of the citizenry and were led by an aristocracy of wealthy mine owners. The Transvaal's long-established rural population of Boers (Afrikaners), afraid of being

Scandinavian Literature, The literary Renaissance in Denmark

2004-12-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

The literary Renaissance reached Denmark in the 1600s, giving rise to a strict adherence to classical patterns and blind belief in authority in political, religious, and literary matters. In religious literature Latin dogmatics and pamphlets reflecting the superstitions of the century were dominant. It was, however, a great era of scholarship. Ole Worm is famous for

Race, History

2004-12-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

The history of race in science is discussed in Thomas F. Gossett, Race: The History of an Idea in America (1965); Elazar Barkan, The Retreat of Scientific Racism (1992); Nancy Stepan, The Idea of Race in Science: Great Britain 1800 - 1960 (1992).

Azov

2004-12-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Formerly �Azak, or Tana, � town, Rostov oblast (province), southwestern Russia. It lies on the left bank of the Don River, 4 miles (7 km) east of the Sea of Azov. The Greek colony of Tanais, the first known major city in the region, was founded there in the 6th century BC. It changed hands and was renamed several times over the ensuing centuries. It became the Genoese colony of Tana (established 1316 - 22), which in 1471 was captured

Extinction

2004-12-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

In biology, the dying out or termination of a race or species. Extinction occurs when a species can no longer reproduce at replacement levels. Most extinctions are thought to have resulted from environmental changes that affected the species in either of two ways. The doomed species might not have been able to adapt to the changed environment and thus perished without

Earth, Energy sources for convection

2004-12-14T03:09:00.000-08:00

Measurements of temperature in deep mines and oil wells indicate that there is a substantial temperature increase with depth. In part, this is due to the weight of overlying rocks. Such temperature increases are not accompanied by a change in heat content and are referred to as adiabatic temperature increases. Convection within the Earth occurs only if the temperature

J�zsef, Attila

2004-12-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

J�zsef was attracted by Marxist ideology and became a member of the then-illegal Communist Party. In 1932 he launched a short-lived literary periodical, Val�s�g, and in 1936 became one of the

Kiriwina Islands

2004-12-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

Also called �Trobriand Islands� coral formations in the Solomon Sea of the southwestern Pacific, Papua New Guinea, 90 miles (145 km) north of the southeasternmost extension of the island of New Guinea. The low-lying group, all of coralline limestone and many fringed by coral reefs, comprises four larger islands, Kiriwina (Trobriand), Kaileuna, Vakuta, and Kitava, and several islets, with a total land area of about

Eliot, Sir Charles

2004-12-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

A scholar and linguist, Eliot served in diplomatic posts in Russia (1885), Morocco (1892), Turkey (1893), and Washington, D.C. (1899). In 1900 he was knighted and appointed commissioner and consul