QuietReceipt

Puffbird

2005-11-18T19:05:00.000-08:00

Puffbirds feed on flying insects. They resemble their close relatives the jacamars in habits

Yuma Desert

2005-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

The Yuma Desert is a region of low sandy plains and dunes. The area is nearly barren,

Coincidence Counting

2005-08-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

In physics, the detection of two nuclear or cosmic ray events that occur almost simultaneously (e.g., within a time of 10-5 second). Coincidence counting involves two or more particle counters exposed to the same source of cosmic rays or nuclear radiation and connected to an electronic coincidence circuit. One principal use of the coincidence technique is to detect particles

Narratology

2005-07-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

The foundations of narratology

Fischer-dieskau, Dietrich

2005-07-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Fischer-Dieskau studied with Georg Walter before serving in World War II and with Hermann Weissenborn afterward. In 1947 he made his concert debut in Johannes Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem at Freiburg, and the next year

Mole Crab

2005-07-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

Also called sand bug (Emerita, or Hippa, talpoida) crab of the Atlantic beaches from New England to Mexico. It is so named from its digging mole-fashion in sand. The shell is about 3.75 centimetres (1.5 inches) long, somewhat egg shaped and yellowish white with purplish markings. It lives on beaches in the intertidal zone. E. analoga, a broader and flatter species, occurs on the California coast.

Kadoma

2005-07-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

City, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan, bordering Osaka city. The city is located on the left bank of the Yodo River and is known for its cultivation of lotus flowers. After the establishment of a railway connection to Osaka in 1909, industrialization was rapid. The Matsushita Electric Industrial Company moved to Kadoma in 1933 to establish factories producing electrical

Vega, Lope De

2005-06-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Outstanding dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age, author of as many as 1,800 plays and several hundred shorter dramatic pieces, of which 431 plays and 50 shorter pieces are extant.

Nagercoil

2005-06-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

City, southernmost Tamil Nadu state, southern India. Nagercoil lies west of the Aramboli Gap in the Western Ghats. It controls the major routes between Madras and Trivandrum and is a commercial centre for a rich agricultural area. Its name, meaning “snake temple,” indicates the early significance of the town's Saiva temple. Although historically a part of the Hindu kingdom

Ostariophysan, Feeding habits

2005-06-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

The remarkable diversity of feeding habits among ostariophysians is associated with a fantastic variety of adaptations in mouth shapes and tooth types (especially in the suborder Characoidei) probably unsurpassed by any other group. At one extreme are certain cyprinids (e.g., Notropis atherinoides) with highly developed gill rakers that strain phytoplankton

Wildland Fire

2005-06-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Fire danger in a wildland setting varies with weather conditions: drought, heat, and wind participate in drying out the timber or other fuel, making it easier to ignite. Once a fire is burning, drought, heat, and wind all increase its intensity. Topography also affects wildland fire, which spreads

China, Japan and Ryukyu

2005-06-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Three years after the Meiji Restoration of 1868—which inaugurated a period of modernization and political change in Japan—a commercial treaty was signed between China and Japan, and it was ratified in 1873. Understandably it was reciprocal, because both signatories had a similar unequal status vis-à-vis the Western nations. The establishment of the new Sino-Japanese relations

Hindu Kush, Animal life

2005-05-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard.

Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovich

2005-05-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

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.

SE1 and all things London

2005-04-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

Are you going to san francisco? Or are you staying in London. If so, have you considered buying a house? Or a flat. get me? If not then you must be daft!! yes you, you're daft!

Anyway, I though I might buy some pants and socks and then some cravats as well as take a short break in the west country.

Can anybody think of a place to stay in southern england? I certainly can't. I checked the site above but it came up with naught! Yes, and if that is not all.... and it is not, I can tell you... then it is certainly enough.

see you soon and post me if you've anything to say.

Yours

Fu-ch'un River

2005-03-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

The westerly

Later Le Dynasty

2005-03-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then occupying Vietnam; by 1428 he had liberated the country and was free to begin the process of recovering the southern

Earth Sciences, Weather modification

2005-03-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

As late as the 1890s experiments were conducted in the United States in the hope of producing rain by setting off charges of dynamite lofted by balloons or kites. No positive results were reported, however. More promising were the cloud-seeding experiments of the 1940s, in which silver iodide was released into clouds as smoke or solid carbon dioxide broadcast into clouds

Calais

2005-03-04T01:14:00.000-08:00

Industrial seaport on the Strait of Dover, Pas-de-Calais d�partement, Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, northern France, 21 mi (34 km) by sea from Dover (the shortest crossing from England). On an island, now bordered by canals and harbour basins, Calais originated as a fishing village. It was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and was fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224. After the Battle

Mountain, Intracontinental mountain belts

2005-03-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

In some regions, mountain belts have been formed by crustal shortening within a continental mass, rather than where two continents have collided. Some 40,000,000 to 80,000,000 years ago, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming formed in this way, and today both the Tien Shan and the Atlas Mountains of northwestern Africa are actively forming within a continent. In general, intracontinental

Crocker, Lucretia

2005-03-02T17:08:00.000-08:00

Crocker graduated from the State Normal School in West Newton, Massachusetts, in 1850 and remained there for four more years as an instructor

Muhando, Penina O.

2005-03-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Muhando studied education and theatre in Tanzania at the University of Dar es-Salaam, later joining the faculty of the department of theatre arts. Her plays include Hatia (1972; �Guilt�), Tambueni haki zetu (1973; �Reveal Our

M�l�

2005-02-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �mellay� ancient and medieval game, a predecessor of modern football (soccer), in which a round or oval object, usually the inflated bladder of an animal, was kicked, punched, carried, or driven toward a goal. Its origins are not known, but, according to one British tradition, the first ball used was the head of an enemy Dane. The games were played by large numbers of people with few rules

China, Industry

2005-02-27T02:01:00.000-08:00

The development of industry has been given considerable attention since the advent of the Communist regime. Overall industrial output has grown at a rate of more than 10 percent per year, and China's industrial work force probably exceeds the combined total for all other developing countries. Industry has surpassed all other sectors in economic growth and degree

Aureus

2005-02-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Basic gold monetary unit of ancient Rome and the Roman world. It was first named nummus aureus (�gold money�), or denarius aureus, and was equal to 25 silver denarii; a denarius equaled 10 bronze asses. (In 89 BC, the sestertius, equal to one-quarter of a denarius, replaced the bronze ass as a unit of account.) In Constantine's reform of AD 312, the aureus was replaced by the solidus as the basic monetary

Ryle, Sir Martin

2005-02-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

British radio astronomer who developed revolutionary radio telescope systems and used them for accurate location of weak radio sources. With improved equipment, he observed the most distant known galaxies of the universe. Ryle and Antony Hewish shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974, the first Nobel prize

Portugal, Conquest and exploration

2005-02-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

The idea of expansion into Africa was a logical result of the completion of the Reconquest in the peninsula, and the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa (1415) probably provided the impulse toward further expansion. The simple idea of fighting the Muslims on their own soil was linked with more complicated motives: the desire to explore in a scientific sense, the hope of finding

Mon

2005-02-23T04:06:00.000-08:00

Also spelled �Mun�, Burmese �Talaing� people living in the eastern delta region of Myanmar (Burma) and in west-central Thailand, numbering in the late 20th century more than 1.1 million. The Mon have lived in their present area for the last 1,200 years, and it was they who gave Myanmar its writing (Pali) and its religion (Buddhism). The Mon are believed to have spread from western China over the river lowlands from the Irrawaddy

Antarctica, Early scientific progress

2005-02-22T03:48:00.000-08:00

The period from the 1760s to about 1900 was one dominated by exploitation of Antarctic and subantarctic seas, particularly along Scotia Ridge. Sealing vessels of many nations, principally American and British but including Argentine, Australian, South African, New Zealand, German, and Norwegian, participated in hunting that eventually led to near extinction of the southern

Rwanda, Flag Of

2005-02-21T02:02:00.000-08:00

Under the Belgian colonial regime, the elite Tutsi minority ruled the social, political, and economic life of Rwanda. The majority Hutu eventually organized a revolt against this feudal system, which culminated in a civil war that began on November 1, 1959. On March 23, 1960, the new Provisional Special Council, which was established by the Belgians and dominated by Hutu members,

Adams, Henry (brooks)

2005-02-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

Adams was the product of Boston's Brahmin class, a cultured elite that traced its lineage to Puritan New England. He was the great-grandson of John Adams and the grandson of John Quincy Adams, both presidents

Biogeochemical Cycle

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

Any of the natural circulation pathways of the essential elements of living matter. These elements in various forms flow from the nonliving (abiotic) to the living (biotic) components of the biosphere and back to the nonliving again. In order for the living components of a major ecosystem (e.g., a lake or forest) to survive, all the chemical elements that make up living cells

Soil Mechanics

2005-02-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

The first scientific study of soil mechanics was undertaken by French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who published a theory of earth pressure in 1773. Coulomb's work and a theory of earth masses published by Scottish

Radic, Stjepan

2005-02-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

With his brother Ante, he organized the Croatian Peasant Party in 1904. In March 1918 Radic began to cooperate with the National Council in Zagreb for the establishment of a Yugoslav

Europa

2005-02-14T23:54:00.000-08:00

Also called �Jupiter II, � fourth largest satellite of the planet Jupiter. One of the four Galilean satellites, it was discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610 and was named by the German astronomer Simon Marius after a figure in Greek mythology. Europa has a diameter of 3,138 km (1,946 miles), and it orbits Jupiter at a distance of approximately 670,900 km (416,900 miles). The satellite has a density of 3.03 grams

Amplitude

2005-02-12T02:46:00.000-08:00

In physics, the maximum displacement or distance moved by a point on a vibrating body or wave measured from its equilibrium position. It is equal to one-half the length of the vibration path. The amplitude of a pendulum is thus one-half the distance that the bob traverses in moving from one side to the other. Waves are generated by vibrating sources, their amplitude being

Ibn Al-'arabi

2005-02-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

A.M. Palacios, El Islam cristianizado; estudio del �sufismo� a trav�s de las obras de Abenarabi de Murcia (1931); R.A. Nicholson, Studies in Islamic Mysticism (1921); A.E. Affifi, The Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid-Din Ibnul 'Arabi (1939); S.H. Nasr, Three Muslim Sages (1963); M.M. Sharif (ed.), A History of Muslim Philosophy, vol. 2 (1963); Henry Corbin, Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi (Eng. trans. 1969); Osman Yahya, Histoire et classification de l'oeuvre d'Ibn 'Arabi, 2 vol. (1964); T. Izutsu, A Comparative Study of the Key Philosophical Concepts in Sufism and Taoism: Ibn 'Arab� and Lao Tz�, Chuang Tz�, 2 vol. (1966 - 67). See especially the works of Palacios, Nasr, and Corbin for biographical information.

Malayan Emergency

2005-02-10T04:04:00.000-08:00

After World War II the Federation of Malaya was formed through the unification of several former British territories, including Sabah and Sarawak. The negotiations included special guarantees of rights for Malays (including the position of sultans) and the establishment

Fabritius, Carel

2005-02-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

He was the son of a schoolmaster, who is said to have been a part-time painter, and both Carel and his brother Barent became painters; both

Christian Vi

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

Tolerably gifted, he became a diligent and conscientious ruler, choosing able administrators; but he was shy, reserved, and unprepossessing in appearance. Like his consort, Sophie Magdalene

Lorentz Transformations

2005-02-07T03:43:00.000-08:00

Set of equations in relativity physics that relate the space and time coordinates of two systems moving at a constant velocity relative to each other. Required to describe high-speed phenomena approaching the speed of light, Lorentz transformations formally express the relativity concepts that space and time are not absolute; that length, time, and mass depend

Vedantadesika

2005-02-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Vedantadesika was born into a distinguished Srivaisnava family that followed the teachings of Ramanuja, an 11th - 12th-century

Vaccine

2005-02-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

A vaccine can confer active immunity against a specific harmful agent by stimulating the immune system to attack the agent. Once stimulated by a vaccine, the antibody-producing cells, called B lymphocytes,

Ado-ekiti

2005-02-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

Town, Ondo state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the Yoruba Hills, at the intersection of roads from Akure, Ilawe, Ilesha, Ila (Illa), and Ikare, and is situated 92 miles (148 km) east-northeast of Ibadan. An urban and industrial centre of the region, it was founded by the Ekiti people, a Yoruba subgroup whose members belonged to the Ekiti-Parapo, a late 19th-century confederation of Yoruba

Plow

2005-02-03T14:20:00.000-08:00

The antecedent of the plow is the prehistoric digging stick. The earliest plows were doubtless digging sticks fashioned with handles for pulling or pushing. By Roman times, light, wheelless plows with iron shares (blades)

Silicon Carbide

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

Exceedingly hard, synthetically produced crystalline compound of silicon and carbon. Its chemical formula is SiC. Since the late 19th century silicon carbide has been an important material for sandpapers, grinding wheels, and cutting tools. More recently, it has found application in refractory linings and heating elements for industrial furnaces, in wear-resistant

Eye, Human, The axes of the eye

2005-02-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

It is worthwhile at this point to define certain axes of the eyes employed during different types of study. The optic axis of the eye is a line drawn through the centre of the cornea and the nodal (central) point of the eye; it actually does not intersect with the retina at the centre of the fovea as might be expected, but toward the nose from this, so that there is an angle of

Kudu

2005-01-31T18:28:00.000-08:00

Any of certain handsome, slender antelopes of the genus Tragelaphus, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). The greater kudu (T. strepsiceros) lives in small groups in hilly bush country or open woods of eastern and southern Africa. It stands about 1.3 m (51 inches) at the shoulder. It has a fringe on the throat and a crest of hair on the neck and back, and

Celle

2005-01-30T02:50:00.000-08:00

City, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany, on the Aller River, at the southern edge of the L�neburger Heide (Heath), northeast of Hannover. The old town, Altencelle, was founded about 1248, and Celle (founded 1292) was the residence (1371 - 1705) of the dukes of Brunswick-L�neburg. The old town has many fine examples of 16th- to 19th-century half-timbered buildings, including the Hoppener Haus

Boxing, Amateur boxing

2005-01-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) of the United States was formed in 1888 and instituted its annual championships

Ochs, Peter

2005-01-28T05:25:00.000-08:00

Born in France of a family that claimed roots in the Basel aristocracy, Ochs in 1769 settled in Basel, where, after becoming doctor of laws (1776), he entered into political affairs. Won to the ideas of the Enlightenment, he became an opponent of the �decayed

Ashur

2005-01-27T06:19:00.000-08:00

The site was originally occupied about 2500 BC by a tribe that probably

Skiing

2005-01-26T19:17:00.000-08:00

The 15th Nordic World Cup overall title for men's cross-country racing was clinched by Vladimir Smirnov of Kazakhstan, the previous season's runner-up. Defending champion Bj�rn D�hlie of Norway was second, and Jari Isometsae of Finland placed third. The women's crown was won by Manuela Di Centa of Italy, followed by two Russians, Lyubov Yegorova (see BIOGRAPHIES) and Yelena

North Germanic Languages, Orthography

2005-01-25T23:18:00.000-08:00

The five basic vowel symbols of the Latin alphabet are supplemented by a number of special symbols that are used mostly to represent umlauted vowels: thus, there is y (pronounced as German �), � (used in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese) and the corresponding � (used in Swedish), � (in Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese) and the corresponding � (in Swedish and Icelandic), and

Arts, Central Asian, Kushan

2005-01-24T02:06:00.000-08:00

The Kushans replaced the Greeks in Bactria about 130 BC. They are thought to have been of Y�eh-chih stock with a strong admixture of Hephthalites, Saka, and Tocharian. One branch of this group migrated to the Tarim Basin and founded a short-lived empire, while the other, under the name of Kushan, gained control of Central Asia. Capturing a section of the great trade route leading

Salamanca

2005-01-23T21:42:00.000-08:00

Salamanca is an important agricultural and commercial centre, and its central location in the fertile Baj�o region has led to its being called the �Granary of Mexico.� Wheat, corn (maize), beans, chick-peas, and fruits, all thrive in the temperate

Sangamon River

2005-01-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

River formed by headstreams in northwestern Champaign County, Illinois, U.S. It flows southwesterly, bending around Decatur, where a dam impounds Lake Decatur, and turns west past Springfield, the state capital, and then north and west to join the Illinois River just north of Beardstown, after a course of 250 mi (400 km). The first Illinois home (1830) of Abraham Lincoln was on a bluff

Arnsberg

2005-01-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

Regierungsbezirk (administrative district), east-central North Rhine - Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. Arnsberg is bordered by Hesse Land to the east, Rhineland-Palatinate Land to the southwest, and the Regierungsbezirke of K�ln and D�sseldorf to the west and M�nster and Detmold to the north. The largest of five districts in North Rhine - Westphalia, it occupies

Islamic World, Trans-Saharan Islam

2005-01-20T23:35:00.000-08:00

When the Ottomans expanded through the southern Mediterranean coast in the early 16th century, they were unable to incorporate Morocco, where a new state had been formed in reaction to the appearance of the Portuguese. The Portuguese were riding the momentum generated by their own seaborne expansion as well as by the fulfillment of the Reconquista and the establishment

Meson

2005-01-19T04:34:00.000-08:00

Any member of a family of subatomic particles composed of an even number of quarks and antiquarks. Mesons are sensitive to the strong force (the force that binds the components of the nucleus) because their constituent quarks are strongly interacting. Mesons consist of an even number of quarks with half-integral spin, and so they have integral spin. They vary widely

Dominus

2005-01-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Plural �Domini, � in ancient Rome, �master,� or �owner,� particularly of slaves. The name became the official title for the emperor, beginning with Diocletian, who reigned from AD 284 to 305; and thus he and his successors are often referred to as the dominate (dominatus), as contrasted with the earlier principate (principatus) of Augustus and his successors. Some earlier emperors, such as Caligula (reigned

Haldane, Richard Burdon, 1st Viscount Haldane Of Cloan

2005-01-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

Educated at the universities of G�ttingen and Edinburgh, Haldane was called to the English bar in 1879 and became a queen's counsel in 1890. He sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until his elevation

Argonaut

2005-01-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Golden Fleece had originated

Fishburne, Laurence

2005-01-15T02:18:00.000-08:00

Fishburne began acting as a child, making his

Pieris

2005-01-14T03:58:00.000-08:00

The leaves are usually alternate, broad, leathery, lance-shaped, and toothed. The flowers, which are cylindrical or urn-shaped, have a five-lobed calyx (the sepals, collectively) and grow in a terminal or

Kyoto University

2005-01-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

Japanese �Kyoto Daigaku, � coeducational state institution of higher education in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded in 1897 under the provisions of an 1872 Japanese law that established a system of imperial universities admitting small numbers of carefully selected students to be trained as scholars and imperial officials. Kyoto Imperial University (Kyoto Teikoku Daigaku), popularly called Kyodai, soon

Romanus I Lecapenus

2005-01-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

Byzantine emperor who shared the imperial throne with his son-in-law Constantine VII and exercised all real power from 920 to 944. Romanus was admiral of the Byzantine fleet on the Danube when, hearing of the defeat of the army at Achelous (917), he resolved to sail for Constantinople. Soon after the marriage of his daughter Helena to Constantine he was crowned colleague of his

San Francisco, Exploration and early settlement

2005-01-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

It is extraordinary that the site of San Francisco should have been explored first by land instead of from the sea, for San Francisco Bay is one of the most splendid natural harbours of the world, yet great captains and explorers - Juan Rodr�guez Cabrillo (1542 - 43), Sir Francis Drake (1579), and Sebasti�n Vizca�no (1602) - sailed unheeding past the entrance. In 1769 a scouting party from an expedition

Hwarangdo

2005-01-10T05:25:00.000-08:00

The hwarang warriors played an instrumental

Perching Duck

2005-01-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Any of the species of the tribe Cairinini, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes), waterfowl that typically inhabit wet woodlands, nest in holes in trees, and perch on branches by means of their long-clawed toes. The tribe is widely represented, especially in the tropics. Perching ducks are closely akin to dabbling ducks, which they resemble in feeding habits and, in some

Discrimination

2005-01-08T04:04:00.000-08:00

Application of discrimination procedures permits description of the sensory acuities of laboratory

Davenport, Thomas

2005-01-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

A blacksmith in Brandon, Vt., Davenport began experimenting with electromagnets after observing one in use at an ironworks in Crown Point, N.Y., in 1831. By 1834 he had

Building Construction, Concrete

2005-01-06T18:28:00.000-08:00

Reinforced concrete is also a major structural material in these buildings. Indeed, outside of North America and western Europe, it is the dominant industrialized building material. Its component parts are readily available throughout the world at fairly low cost. Portland cement is easily manufactured by burning shale and limestone; aggregates such as sand

Downing, Sir George

2005-01-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

The son of a Puritan lawyer, Downing was one of the first graduates of Harvard College,

Spokane

2005-01-04T02:30:00.000-08:00

City, seat (1879) of Spokane county, eastern Washington, U.S., at the falls of the Spokane River. Frequented by trappers when the North West Company built a trading post there in 1810, the site was settled in 1872 and laid out in 1878. Known as Spokane Falls (for the Spokane Indians, whose name means �sun people�), it developed after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway. Abundant waterpower

France, History Of, The July monarchy

2005-01-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

The renovated regime (often called the July monarchy or the bourgeois monarchy) rested on an altered political theory and a broadened social base. Divine right gave way to popular sovereignty; the social centre of gravity shifted from the landowning aristocracy to the wealthy bourgeoisie. The Charter of 1814 was retained but no longer as a royal gift to the nation; it

Animal Disease

2005-01-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

Concern with diseases that afflict animals dates from the earliest human contacts with animals and is reflected in early views of religion and magic. Diseases of animals remain a concern principally because of the economic losses they cause and the possible transmission

Scandinavian Literature, The modern Swedish novel

2005-01-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

The development of the novel was associated with Gustaf Hellstr�m, Ludvig Nordstr�m, Elin W�gner, and Sigfrid Siwertz. Hellstr�m's work as a journalist in Europe, the United States, and England greatly influenced him. Irony and careful detail emerged in his best known novel, Sn�rmakare Lekholm f�r en id� (1927; Lacemaker Lekholm Has an Idea). Siwertz was a more elegant stylist,

Lance Formation

2004-12-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

Division of Late Cretaceous rocks in the western United States (the Cretaceous period began about 144 million years ago and ended 66.4 million years ago). Where it occurs, the Lance Formation is the uppermost rock unit of the Cretaceous. It was named for exposures studied near Lance Creek, Niobrara county, Wyoming. The Lance Formation varies in thickness from about 90 m (300 feet) in

Wyntoun, Andrew Of

2004-12-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

Wyntoun was a canon of St. Andrews, and, from about 1393 to his retirement because of old age in 1421, he served as prior of St. Serf's, Loch Leven (Kinross, Scotland). Written for Sir John Wemyss of Leuchars, Fife,

Iridosmine

2004-12-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Also called �Osmiridium, � mineral consisting of an alloy of iridium and a smaller proportion of osmium. It occurs in gold-bearing conglomerates, as at the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and in gold sands, as in California and Oregon, U.S. Because of their hardness and resistance to corrosion, both natural and synthetic iridosmine are used for tips of pen nibs, surgical needles, and sparking points

Iridosmine

2004-12-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

United Airlines, Inc.

2004-12-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

United Airlines dates to 1929, when William E. Boeing (1881 - 1956), Frederick B. Rentschler (1887 - 1956), and their associates founded United Aircraft Transport Corporation, a conglomerate of both aircraft manufacturing and air transport.

Abacus

2004-12-26T03:17:00.000-08:00

The earliest �abacus� likely was a board or slab on which a Babylonian spread sand so he could trace letters for general writing purposes. The word abacus is probably derived, through its Greek form abakos, from a

To' Janggut

2004-12-25T08:55:00.000-08:00

Muhammad Hasan, known as To' Janggut because of his long white beard, was a peasant farmer and an itinerant rice trader in

Auburn

2004-12-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

City, King county, western Washington, U.S., in the White River valley, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Tacoma. It was laid out in 1887 by Levi W. Ballard, an early local settler, and named for W.A. Slaughter, an army officer killed in a conflict with area Indians 30 years earlier. Local residents, disliking the name Slaughter (the hotel was named Slaughter House), petitioned the legislature to change

Ari Thorgilsson The Learned

2004-12-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

Icelandic chieftain, priest, and historian whose �slendingab�k (Libellus Islandorum; The Book of the Icelanders) is the first history of Iceland written in the vernacular. Composed before 1133 and covering the period from the settlement of Iceland up to 1120, it includes information on the founding of the Althing (parliament) and on the settlement of Greenland and

Bruce, Michael

2004-12-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Bruce's parents gave him a good education, and he attended four winter sessions at the University of Edinburgh. In 1766 he wrote his last and finest poem, �Elegy Written in Spring.� His reputation

Cartan, �lie-joseph

2004-12-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

In 1894 Cartan became a lecturer at the University of Montpellier, where he studied the structure of continuous groups introduced by the noted Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie. He later examined theories of equivalence

Dramatic Literature, Dramatic expression

2004-12-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

The language of drama can range between great extremes: on the one hand, an intensely theatrical and ritualistic manner; and on the other, an almost exact reproduction of real life of the kind commonly associated with motion picture and television drama. In the ritualistic drama of ancient Greece, the playwrights wrote in verse, and it may be assumed that their actors

General Will

2004-12-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

Theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 18th-century French political philosopher, that in a democratic society the state represents the general will of the citizens, and that in obeying its laws each citizen is pursuing his own real interest. Rousseau distinguished the �general will� from particular wills. The general will is a moral will, a will that aims at the common

Ribbon Worm

2004-12-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

Also called �Bootlace Worm, Proboscis Worm, Nemertine, or Nemertean, � any member of the invertebrate phylum Nemertea (sometimes called Nemertinea, or Rhynchocoela), which includes mainly free-living forms but also a few parasites of crustaceans, mollusks, and sea squirts. The majority of the approximately 900 known nemertean species are found in marine habitats. Some, however, live in freshwater or on land. The name proboscis worm derives

Ghibelline

2004-12-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

In medieval Italy, member of the pro-imperial party, opponents of the pro-papal Guelfs. See Guelf and Ghibelline.

Chemical Compound, Monoterpenes

2004-12-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

The monoterpenes are isolated from their natural sources by distillation of the plant matter with steam. They are volatile oils, less dense than water, and have normal boiling points in the range 150� - 185� C (300� - 365� F). Purification is usually achieved by fractional distillation at reduced pressures or by regeneration from a crystalline derivative. Acyclic monoterpene hydrocarbons

Carrion Flower

2004-12-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

Any of about 75 species of succulent plants of the genus Stapelia of the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae), native to tropical areas of southern Africa. They are named for the unpleasant odour of their large flowers. The carrion odour attracts flies, which pollinate the plants and lay their eggs there. Carrion flowers have thick, four-sided, grooved stems, often coloured

Economic Affairs

2004-12-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

The year 2002 was a strange, tumultuous one that held few moments of rest for weary investors and companies. The recession seemed to continue unabated; many sectors were rife with bankruptcies; and executives were hauled before judges and congressional investigators. (For the 10 Largest U.S. Bankruptcies Filed Since 1980, see Table.) Behind the chaos lurked the possibility of

Shimazu Family

2004-12-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Powerful warrior clan that controlled the southern tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu from the 12th to the 19th century. Ensconced in their isolated stronghold on the frontier of Japan, the Shimazu were the only feudal family to play a leading role in Japanese history in both medieval and modern times. During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603 - 1867), the family's Satsuma fief was the

Gabon, History Of

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

History of the area from the explorations of Europeans, beginning in the 15th century, to the present.

Earth Sciences, Knowledge of Earth history

2004-12-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

The occurrence of seashells embedded in the hard rocks of high mountains aroused the curiosity of early naturalists and eventually set off a controversy on the origin of fossils that continued through the 17th century. Xenophanes of Colophon (flourished c. 560 BC) was credited by later writers with observing that seashells occur �in the midst of earth and in mountains.� He

San Fernando De Apure

2004-12-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Apure estado (�state�), west-central Venezuela, on the Apure River. A Llanos (plains) port, it is vulnerable to flooding during the rainy season, despite its great distance from the sea, because it has an elevation of only 200 feet (60 m). Live cattle, beef, and cattle hides are the city's leading products. It is a port of call for small boats on both the Orinoco and the Apure