France, History Of, French culture in the 17th century

If historians are not yet agreed on the political motives of Louis XIV, they all accept, however, the cultural and artistic significance of the epoch over which he and his two 17th-century predecessors reigned. In their different ways - Henry IV's interest lay in town planning, Louis XIII's in music, and Louis XIV's in the theatre and in landscape gardening - they all actively

Gynecological Examination

Procedures aimed at assessing the health of a woman's reproductive system. The general examination usually makes use of a speculum for a view of the vagina and cervix. More specialized procedures include the Pap smear (q.v.) for the detection of cancer of the cervix. In the diagnosis of possible infertility, useful procedures include the Rubin's test, which helps determine

Arakanese

Member of a Myanmar (Burmese) ethnic group centred in the Arakan coastal region of southern Myanmar (Burma). The Arakanese are Buddhists of Myanmar stock and possess a dialect and customs of their own. Separated from the parent group in central Myanmar by the mountains of the Arakan Yoma, they trace their history to 2666 BC, have had a lineal succession of as many as 227 princes, and

Sanjar

Appointed governor of Khorasan by his half brother Berk-yaruq, who succeeded Malik-Shah as

Tuapse

City and seaport of Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It lies on a sheltered bay of the Black Sea. Founded in 1838 around a fortress established in 1828, it grew in the 20th century as a major ship-repairing, oil-refining, and oil-export centre. It is linked by pipeline to Grozny and the north Caucasian oil fields. Other industries include food processing and the manufacture

Tuapse

City and seaport of Krasnodar kray (region), southwestern Russia. It lies on a sheltered bay of the Black Sea. Founded in 1838 around a fortress established in 1828, it grew in the 20th century as a major ship-repairing, oil-refining, and oil-export centre. It is linked by pipeline to Grozny and the north Caucasian oil fields. Other industries include food processing and the manufacture

Eliot, George

Evans was born on an estate of her father's employer. She went as a boarder to Mrs. Wallington's School

Tachism

French �Tachisme� (from tache, �spot�), style of painting practiced in Paris after World War II and through the 1950s that, like its American equivalent, Action painting, featured the intuitive, spontaneous gesture of the artist's brushstroke. Developed by the young painters Hans Hartung, G�rard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Frans Wols, Chao Wu-chi (Zao Wu-ki), and Georges Mathieu, Tachism was part

Maurice

Maurice succeeded his father, Duke Henry of Saxony, in 1541. Although a Protestant, he aided the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V against

Amazonas

Largest estado (�state�) of Brazil, situated in the northwestern part of the country. It is bounded to the northwest by Colombia, to the north by Venezuela and the Brazilian state of Roraima, to the east and southeast by the Brazilian states of Par� and Mato Grosso, to the south by the Brazilian state of Rond�nia, to the southwest by the Brazilian state of Acre, and to the west

Montserrat

Island and overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Located in the Lesser Antilles chain, this pear-shaped island is known as the �Emerald Isle of the Caribbean.� The de facto capital is St. John's, in the northern part of the island. Plymouth, on the southwestern coast, was the capital and only port of entry until 1997, when volcanic eruptions destroyed much of the town and the

Hachiman

One of the most popular Shinto deities of Japan; the patron deity of the Minamoto clan and of warriors in general; often referred to as the god of war. Hachiman is commonly regarded as the deification of Ojin, the 15th emperor of Japan. He is seldom worshipped alone, however, and Hachiman shrines are most frequently dedicated to three deities: Hachiman as Ojin, his mother the

Allston, Washington

Painter and author, commonly held to be the first important American Romantic painter. Allston is known for his experiments with dramatic subject matter and his use of light and atmospheric colour. Although his production was small, it shaped future American landscape

Plymouth Company

The Plymouth Company was less successful than its twin, the London Company (q.v.). In 1606 it established two colonies, and in 1607 settlers landed at the mouth of the

Wryneck

Either of two species of birds that constitute the subfamily Jynginae of the woodpecker family (Picidae) but may be separated as the family Jyngidae. Wrynecks are gray-brown birds of open woods and brushlands, named for their habit of twisting their necks snakily when alarmed. They flick up ants from the ground or insects from trees with their long tongues, and they

Latina

City, capital of Latina provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, south-central Italy, 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Rome. Built in 1932 as the first centre of the newly reclaimed Agro Pontino (see Pontine Marshes), it became the provincial capital when Latina province was formed from Roma province in 1934. Both the town and the province were known as Littoria until 1947. Latina has a beet-sugar refinery,

Epistemology, Modern

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

Arrau, Claudio

After studying privately in Santiago for two years, Arrau went to Berlin, where he studied with Martin Krause, a pupil of Franz Liszt, from 1912 to 1918. His serious career began with a recital in Berlin in 1914, and during the next decade he toured

Indonesia, The French and British in Java, 1806 - 15

The fall of the Netherlands to France during the Revolutionary Wars and the dissolution of the company led in due course to significant changes in the administration of the Indies. Under Napoleon's �Kingdom of Holland,� one of his marshals, Herman Willem Daendels, was appointed as governor-general. Daendels strengthened Javanese defenses, raised new forces, built

China, Food production

The primary Neolithic crops, domesticated by the 5th millennium BC, were drought-resistant millet (usually Setaria italica), grown on the eolian or alluvial loess soils of the northwest and the north, and glutenous rice (Oryza sativa), grown in the wetlands of the southeast. These staples were supplemented by a variety of fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables, and aquatic plants.

Yab-yum

(Tibetan: �father-mother�), in Buddhist art of India, Nepal, and Tibet, the representation of the male deity in sexual embrace with his female consort. The pose is generally understood to represent the mystical union of the active force, or method (upaya, conceived of as masculine), with wisdom (prajna, conceived of as feminine) - a fusion necessary to overcome the false duality

Cagliostro, Alessandro, Count (count) Di

Balsamo was the son of poor parents and grew up as an urchin in the streets of Palermo. Escaping from Sicily after a series of minor crimes, he traveled

Shensi, Agriculture

The southern part of the province forms a portion of the southwestern highland and basin area, which is characterized by double-cropping, wet-field agriculture, and forestry production. Most of the cultivated land is below 3,000 feet. The Han-chung Basin grows rice intensively, followed by winter wheat, but in the mountain zones of the T'ai-pai and Tsinling ranges the main

Ocean

The first major undersea survey was undertaken during the 1870s, but it was not until the last half of the 20th century that scientists began to learn what lies beneath the ocean surface in any detail. It has been determined that the ocean basins, which hold the vast quantity of water that covers nearly three-quarters of the Earth's surface, have an average depth of almost four

Scalare

Any of several popular aquarium fishes of the angelfish (q.v.) group.

Scalare

Any of several popular aquarium fishes of the angelfish (q.v.) group.

Maurice, (john) Frederick Denison

Prevented from graduation in law at Cambridge by his refusal to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles, the Anglican confession of faith, Maurice reversed his position by 1830 and attended Oxford.

Novial

Artificial language constructed in 1928 by the Danish philologist Otto Jespersen, intended for use as an international auxiliary language, but little used today. Its grammar is similar in type to that of Esperanto or Ido. Novial has one definite article, no gender for nouns except those denoting persons, noun plurals in -s, forms for a possessive (genitive) and an objective

Gniezno

Town, Poznan wojew�dztwo (province), west central Poland. Located on the Poznan - Torun rail line, Gniezno is a trade and food-processing centre. Legend attributes its origin to Lech, mythological founder of Poland, who supposedly made it his capital. Archaeological evidence indicates that a stronghold of the Polanie tribe existed there in the 8th century AD. In 1000 Gniezno became