SecondLeaf

Ukrainian Literature

2005-04-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

The body of writings in the Ukrainian language. The earliest writings of the Ukrainians, works produced in Kievan Rus from the 11th to the 13th century, were composed in Church Slavonic and are thus the common literary heritage of the Russians and Belarusians as well. After the Mongol invasion (13th century), Ukrainian literature was in decline until its revival in the 16th

Van Deman, Esther Boise

2005-04-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

Van Deman earned bachelor's (1891) and master's (1892) degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After teaching

Arts, Central Asian, Mongols

2005-04-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

Genghis Khan (died 1227), the renowned Mongol conqueror, sacked and destroyed Bukhara in 1224, sparing only the 12th-century Kalyan tower, which was used for throwing criminals to their death. The 14th-century Turkic conqueror Timur, however, endowed Samarkand with new glory by building a series of religious monuments widely renowned for their splendour and decorative use of glazed

Quinidine

2005-04-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

Drug used in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia) and malaria. Obtained from the bark of the Cinchona tree, quinidine shares many of the pharmacological actions of quinine; i.e., both have antimalarial and fever-reducing activity. The main use of quinidine, however, involves its activity as a myocardial depressant—that is, it depresses the excitability

Finland, Justice

2005-03-30T17:18:00.000-08:00

The Finnish judiciary is independent of the legislature and executive; judges are removable only by judicial sentence. There are municipal and rural district courts, held in cities and towns by the chief judge (oikeuspormestari) and assistants and in the country by a judge and jurors. Appeal from these courts lies to courts of appeal in Helsinki, Turku, Vaasa, Kuopio,

Kwanza River

2005-03-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Coanza, Cuanza, Quanza, or Kuanza, river in central Angola, rising about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Chitembo in the Bié Plateau at 5,000 feet (1,500 m). It flows northward for about 320 miles (510 km) and then curves westward to enter the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles (48 km) south of Luanda, after a course of 600 miles (960 km). The Kwanza drains much of central Angola and is the only Angolan river of economic significance. At intervals during much of its

Mitre Shell

2005-03-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

Any of several marine snails constituting the family Mitridae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), in which the thick shell typically is bullet shaped, vaguely resembling a bishop's headdress, or mitre. Mitres are most common in the Indo-Pacific region, where one of the largest species occurs: the 10-centimetre (4-inch) episcopal mitre (Mitra mitra), which has

Dzungarian Basin

2005-03-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

The basin is located between the Mongolian Altai Mountains, on the Sino-Mongolian border, to the north, and the P'o-lo-k'o-nu and O-ha-pu-t'e mountains to the south; the latter run east and west immediately to the north of the Tien Shan (“Celestial Mountains”). To the east and southeast, respectively, the basin is

Peru, Drainage

2005-03-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

Distinctive drainage patterns dissect the Costa, Sierra, and Montaña. Of the more than 50 rivers that flow west from the Andes across the Costa, most are short (usually less than 200 miles long) and precipitous, with highly seasonal rates of flow. Most have a period of peak flow (usually during the December to March rainy season) followed by a long dry period; only the largest of

Qatar

2005-03-26T01:27:00.000-08:00

The National Council for Culture, Arts, and Heritage and several other agencies and departments oversee literary, artistic, and cultural activities as well as recreation and tourism. The Qatar National Museum, in Doha, includes displays of the country's history and archaeology, a model lagoon in which Qatari sailing and pearling vessels are displayed, and a museum

Insurance, Business property insurance

2005-03-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

Insurance for business property follows a pattern that is similar in many ways to the one for individual property. A commonly used form is the “building and personal property coverage form” (BPP). This form permits a business owner to cover in one policy the buildings, fixtures, machinery and equipment, and personal property used in business and the personal property

Cpd

2005-03-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Abbreviation of Cape Photographic Durchmusterung (q.v.), an astronomical catalog.

Kuala Lumpur

2005-03-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

Capital of Malaysia. The city is located in west-central West (Peninsular) Malaysia, midway along the west coast tin and rubber belt and about 25 miles (40 km) east of its ocean port, Port Kelang, on the Strait of Malacca. It is the federation's largest urban area and its cultural, commercial, and transportation centre. In 1972 Kuala Lumpur was designated a municipality, and in 1974 this entity

Boiling Point

2005-03-23T02:30:00.000-08:00

At any temperature a liquid partly vaporizes into the space above it until the pressure exerted

Muscovy Company

2005-03-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

Also called Russia Company, body of English merchants trading with Russia. The company was formed in 1555 by the navigator and explorer Sebastian Cabot and various London merchants and was granted a monopoly of Anglo-Russian trade. It was the first English joint-stock company in which the capital remained regularly in use instead of being repaid after every voyage. In 1553 Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard

Hystero-epilepsy

2005-03-20T02:40:00.000-08:00

Hysterical seizures that resemble epilepsy and, in diagnosis, must be distinguished from it. In hystero-epilepsy the reflexes and responses to stimulation in the part of the body affected are normal, and the electroencephalogram shows no significant abnormality in the brain waves. Usually the person affected can be roused by painful stimuli and is never completely

Tabernacle

2005-03-19T14:24:00.000-08:00

Israel's earliest sanctuary was a simple tent within which, it was believed,

North Germanic Languages

2005-03-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

The six standard languages of today, in the order of their emergence as languages of culture and prestige, are Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, Faroese, New Norwegian (Nynorsk), and Dano-Norwegian.

Elixir

2005-03-18T00:34:00.000-08:00

In alchemy, substance thought to be capable of changing base metals into gold. The same term, more fully elixir vitae, “elixir of life,” was given to the substance that would indefinitely prolong life—a liquid that was believed to be allied with the philosopher's stone. Chinese Taoists not only sought the “pill of immortality” but developed techniques (meditation, breathing

Alaungpaya

2005-03-16T23:51:00.000-08:00

Of humble origins, Alaungpaya was a village headman from the

France, History Of, The Grand Empire

2005-03-16T03:48:00.000-08:00

Napoleon now had a free hand to reorganize Europe and numerous relatives to install on the thrones of his satellite kingdoms. The result was known as the Grand Empire. Having annexed Tuscany, Piedmont, Genoa, and the Rhineland directly into France, Napoleon placed the Kingdom of Holland (which until 1806 was the Batavian Commonwealth) under his brother Louis, the Kingdom

Conditioning

2005-03-16T02:38:00.000-08:00

In physiology, a behavioral process whereby a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement (providing a natural stimulus or reward for the desired response). The history of this concept shows its dependence upon experimental techniques for the study of reflexes. Physiologists in Russia, England, and the

Sevan, Lake

2005-03-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

Lake in Armenia, with an area of 525 sq mi (1,360 sq km). Lying at 6,250 ft (1,905 m) above sea level in a mountain-enclosed basin, it drains by the Hrazdan River into the Aras River and to the Caspian Sea, but most of its water is lost by evaporation rather than by runoff. The lake is in two connected parts, the smaller but deeper Maly Sevan (northwest), with a maximum depth of 282 ft, and the Bolshoy Sevan (southeast),

Philopoemen

2005-03-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

He was trained to a career of arms by the Academic philosophers Ecdelus and Demophanes. After spending some 10 years as a mercenary leader in Crete, he returned to Achaea and was elected federal cavalry commander for 210/209, when his reorganized

Bosnia And Herzegovina, Transportation

2005-03-15T07:42:00.000-08:00

The major obstacle to communication in Bosnia and Herzegovina has always been the mountainous topography. The railway system, begun under Austro-Hungarian rule (1878–1918), connects Sarajevo with major towns to the north and with Zagreb and Belgrade. Another line runs south from Sarajevo to Mostar and on to Ploce on Croatia's Adriatic coast. However, few lines are direct, and

Self-determination

2005-03-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

The process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, form their own state and choose their own government. As a political principle, the idea of self-determination evolved at first as a by-product of the doctrine of nationalism, to which early expression was given by the French and American revolutions. In World War

Voting Rights Act

2005-03-12T06:33:00.000-08:00

U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly widened the franchise and is considered among the most far-reaching pieces of civil rights legislation

Hughes, Richard (arthur Warren)

2005-03-12T03:54:00.000-08:00

Hughes was educated at Charterhouse School, near Godalming, Surrey, and at Oriel College, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1922, the same year in which his one-act

Maban Languages

2005-03-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Group of related languages spoken in the border area of Chad, The Sudan, and the Central African Republic. The Maban languages form a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Maba (also called Bura Mabang) is the largest Maban language in terms of number of speakers (more than 250,000). Other members of the group include Karanga, Kibet, Massalat, Masalit (Massalit), Marfa, and Runga.

Tzetzes, John

2005-03-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Tzetzes was for a time secretary to a provincial governor, then earned a meagre living by teaching and writing. He has been described as the perfect specimen of the Byzantine pedant.

Bobbin Lace

2005-03-10T02:11:00.000-08:00

Also called pillow lace , or bone lace with needle lace, one of two main kinds of lace. Bobbin lace is made with a number of threads, each fastened to an elongated spool (bobbin). A pattern is drawn on parchment or paper, and holes are pricked to indicate where pins will be placed to keep the threads in position while the lace is being made. The parchment is placed on a pillow or cushion, and the threads, with the bobbins

Middle East, Ancient

2005-03-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

History of the region from prehistoric times to the rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other areas.

Black Code

2005-03-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

The black

Scandinavian Literature, Post-classical literature in Iceland

2005-03-08T02:50:00.000-08:00

In the period following the classical age, little was written that attracted attention outside Iceland. Realism and detached objectivity declined, and sentimentality and fantasy gained the upper hand. The decline in literary standards is sometimes attributed to Iceland's loss of independence in 1262 and the changes that followed. Interest in earlier manuscripts

Tigre

2005-03-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

The largest federation of Tigre is that of the Amer (Beni Amer), a branch of the historically important Beja peoples. These Muslims all recognize the religious

Mahaweli Ganga

2005-03-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

(Sinhalese: “Great Sandy River”), river, central and eastern Sri Lanka. At 208 mi (335 km) in length, it is Sri Lanka's longest river. It rises on the Hatton Plateau on the western side of the island's hill country, flows north through a tea- and rubber-growing region, and turns east near Kandy; it then turns north across the lowlands, receives its principal tributary, the Amban Ganga, and flows

United Kingdom, The reconquest of the Danelaw

2005-03-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

When Alfred died in 899, his son Edward succeeded him. A large-scale incursion by the Danes of Northumbria ended in their crushing defeat at Tettenhall in 910. Edward completed his father's plan of building a ring of fortresses around Wessex, and his sister Aethelflaed took similar measures in Mercia. In 912 Edward was ready to begin the series of campaigns by which he relentlessly

Thompson River

2005-03-05T14:34:00.000-08:00

Major tributary of the Fraser River, in southern British Columbia, Canada. The North Thompson (210 miles [340 km]) rises in the Cariboo Mountains east of Wells Gray Provincial Park and follows an easterly then southwesterly course to Kamloops; the South Thompson (206 miles) emerges from Shuswap Lake and flows northwesterly to Kamloops (see photograph), where the two streams unite

Nigeria

2005-03-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Officially Federal Republic of Nigeria country located on the coast of western Africa. It has an area of 356,669 square miles (923,768 square km). It is bordered to the north by Niger, the east by Chad and Cameroon, the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and to the west by Benin. Nigeria is not only large in size—it is larger than the U.S. state of Texas—it is also Africa's most populous country. Nigeria has a diverse geography, with climates ranging

Ibsen, Henrik (johan)

2005-03-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

Ibsen was born at Skien, a small

Forbach

2005-03-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Town, Moselle département, Lorraine region, northeastern France, just southwest of Saarbrücken, Ger. The town, which has an important cokery and manufactures mining equipment, is at the edge of the Saar Coal Basin. Remains of the medieval castle of the counts of Forbach crown a nearby hill (Schlossberg). Forbach was the scene of a French defeat (Aug. 6, 1870) during the Franco-German

Chraïbi, Driss

2005-03-03T03:41:00.000-08:00

Chraïbi was educated first in a Qur'anic school and then in a French school in Casablanca. In 1946 he went to Paris to study chemical engineering, receiving a degree in 1950, after which he did graduate work in neuropsychiatry, only to abandon science just before receiving a

Lusignan Family

2005-03-02T23:15:00.000-08:00

Noble family of Poitou (a province of western France) that provided numerous crusaders and kings of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Lesser Armenia. A branch of the family became counts of La Marche and Angoulême and played a role in precipitating the baronial revolt in England against King Henry III. The castle of Lusignan is associated with the medieval legend of Mélusine.

Dandelion

2005-03-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

It has a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant; a deep taproot; a smooth, hollow stem; leaves that may be nearly smooth-margined, toothed, or deeply cut; and

Interior Design, Elements of design

2005-02-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

Of all the component elements that together form a completed interior, the single most important element is space. Spaces can be exhilarating or depressing, cheerful or serene, all depending upon the use the designer has made of the various elements that form the whole. Space is, in modern times, a costly commodity. The beautiful space of the Gothic cathedral achieved

Salem

2005-02-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

Salem's manufactures include

Performing Arts

2005-02-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

Salem's manufactures include

Madison, James

2005-02-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

Fourth president of the United States (1809–17) and one of the founding fathers of his country. At the Constitutional Convention (1787) he influenced the planning and ratification of the U.S. Constitution and collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in the publication of The Federalist Papers. As a member of the new House of Representatives, he sponsored the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, commonly called the Bill of Rights. He was secretary of state under President Thomas Jefferson when the Louisiana Territory was purchased from France. The War of 1812 was fought during his presidency. (For a discussion of the history and nature of the presidency, see presidency of the United States of America. See also Cabinet of President James Madison.)

Somali Basin

2005-02-27T05:26:00.000-08:00

Submarine basin on the floor of the southwestern Arabian Sea, an arm of the Indian Ocean, east of Somalia. The Carlsberg Ridge separates it from the shallower Arabian Basin to the northeast. The Somali Basin also connects with the Mascarene and Madagascar basins to the south, with sill depths greater than 11,800 feet (3,600 m). Sill depths between the Somali and Arabian basins have

Frederick Iii

2005-02-25T04:24:00.000-08:00

Succeeding his father, the elector Ernest, in 1486, Frederick allied himself with Berthold, archbishop of Henneberg, to promote imperial reforms that would increase the

T'u-chia

2005-02-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Pinyin Tujia, any member of a people distributed over southwestern Hunan and southwestern Hupeh provinces in China. The T'u-chia numbered about 5,940,000 in the late 20th century. Chinese is their native language, though many also understand the language of the neighbouring Miao people, to whom they are related. Like the Miao, the T'u-chia grow corn (maize) on small terraced fields in the foothills

China, Burma

2005-02-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

In 1867 the British gained the right to station a commercial agent at Bhamo in Burma, from which they could explore the Irrawaddy River up to the Yunnan border. A British interpreter accompanying a British exploratory mission to Yunnan was killed by local tribesmen on the Yunnan–Burma border in February 1875. The British minister in China, Thomas Wade, seized the opportunity

Szekszárd

2005-02-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Town and seat of Tolna megye (county), south-central Hungary. Lying close to the Sió River, south-southeast of Budapest, the town once lay along the Danube before that river was rechanneled as a result of 19th-century water regulation. Szekszárd's vineyards have been famous for centuries. The town centre stands on a hill overlooking the river; the county hall, which was built

East Dunbartonshire

2005-02-22T00:45:00.000-08:00

Council area, west-central Scotland. East Dunbartonshire's largest towns, Bearsden and Milngavie in the southwest and Kirkintilloch in the southeast, lie within the historic county of Dunbartonshire. The council area also includes a small area in the south around the town of Bishopbriggs in the historic county of Lanarkshire and a more extensive area in the northeast

Ducetius

2005-02-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

A Hellenized leader of the Siculi, an ancient people of Sicily, who for a short time welded the native communities of east Sicily into a powerful federation. He seized his opportunity during the confusion that followed the collapse of tyranny in Syracuse and other Sicilian states in 460. Enjoying the goodwill of the Syracusan democracy, he enlisted its help in driving

Permafrost, Structures on piles

2005-02-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

Piles are used to support many, if not most, structures built on ice-rich permafrost. In regions of cold winters, many pile foundations are in ground subject to seasonal freezing and, therefore, possibly subject to the damaging effect of frost heaving, which tends to displace the pile upward and thus to disturb the foundation of the structure. The displacement of piling

Catapult

2005-02-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

Mechanism for forcefully propelling stones, spears, or other projectiles, in use since ancient times. The Romans used the word ballista to designate an engine used to hurl stones and catapulta for one that shot arrows and darts, although the larger catapults mounted a single long arm, which hurled stones and other objects. Nearly all catapults employed in ancient

Ramadier, Paul

2005-02-21T03:23:00.000-08:00

After receiving his doctorate in law from the University of Paris, Ramadier became an advocate at the Paris Court of Appeals. He became mayor of Decazeville in 1919 and represented Villefranche-de-Rouergue in the Chamber of Deputies from 1928 to 1940. In 1936–37 Ramadier served in the public

Ben-zvi, Itzhak

2005-02-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

A Zionist from his youth, Ben-Zvi in 1905 helped form the Russian Poale Zion, a socialistically oriented Zionist group that set an important

Bruner, Jerome S(eymour)

2005-02-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

Bruner's father, a watch manufacturer, died when Bruner was 12 years old. Bruner studied at Duke University in Durham, N.C. (B.A., 1937), and then

First Folio

2005-02-18T07:09:00.000-08:00

The publication of drama in the early 17th century was usually left to the poorer members of the Stationers' Company (which issued licenses) and to outright

Asti

2005-02-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

City, capital of Asti province, Piemonte (Piedmont) region, northwestern Italy. It lies at the confluence of the Tanaro and Borbera rivers, 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Turin. Asti was the Hasta, or Colonia, of the Romans and was the seat of a bishopric from AD 932. It reached its zenith as an independent commune in the 13th century, after which it fell to several overlords before coming under

L'enfant, Pierre-charles

2005-02-17T00:55:00.000-08:00

L'Enfant studied art under his father at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture from 1771 until he enlisted in 1776 as a volunteer in the American Revolutionary Army. In recognition

Gauss Elimination

2005-02-16T23:50:00.000-08:00

In linear and multilinear algebra, a process for finding the solutions of a system of simultaneous linear equations by first solving one of the equations for the first variable (in terms of all the others) and then substituting this expression into the remaining equations. The result is a new system in which the number of equations and variables is one less than in

Aerospace Industry, Mergers and divestitures

2005-02-15T22:40:00.000-08:00

With a decline in defense funding and a narrowing of commercial markets in the decades following World War II, the number of business opportunities shrank, and competition for each project became more intense. In response, aerospace companies sought mergers as a way to integrate strengths, to combine talent and other resources, and to reduce costs by eliminating

Jacob

2005-02-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

According to the Old Testament, Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau, who was the ancestor of Edom and the Edomites. The two are representatives of two different grades of social order,

Breckinridge, John C(abell)

2005-02-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

His formal expulsion from the Senate in December was a meaningless gesture because he had already been commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army in November. After the Battle of Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862), in which he commanded the reserve, he was promoted to the rank of major general and thereafter took part in many campaigns, including Vicksburg (June 1863), the Wilderness (May 1864), and Shenandoah Valley (1864–65). In the final months of the war, Breckinridge served as Confederate secretary of war, and at the end of the hostilities he fled to England. After a self-imposed exile of three years, he returned to resume his law practice in Lexington, where he died seven years later.

Alkan, Valentin

2005-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

Alkan was born to Jewish parents, and all of his siblings (five brothers and a sister) also assumed the surname Alkan and were musicians. Valentin drew notice at the age of seven, when he won the first of many first

Jibril

2005-02-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

Muhammad himself could not at first identify the spirit that possessed him, and the Qur'an mentions him by name only three times. Jibril, however, became Muhammad's constant helper.

Earth, Composition of the crust

2005-02-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

Most of the Earth's surface is covered by oceanic crust. The composition of this crust is documented on the basis of rocks sampled by deep-sea dredging and by studies of ophiolites, which are slivers of oceanic crust and uppermost mantle that have been tectonically emplaced on land. The oceanic crust is found to be relatively uniform in composition (Table 3). It consists

Tigris-euphrates River System, Agriculture and irrigation

2005-02-11T22:45:00.000-08:00

The rivers are high at the wrong time of year for most crops (except rice), so that cultivation by direct inundation generally cannot be practiced. The initiation of massive irrigation projects in Turkey heralds unprecedented change for the piedmont area of southeastern Anatolia. Historically, the agriculture of this zone, as well as of northern Iraq and Syria, has

Würm Glacial Stage

2005-02-11T02:39:00.000-08:00

Major division of late Pleistocene deposits and time in Alpine Europe (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Würm glacial stage followed the Riss-Würm interglacial and is correlated with the Weichsel glacial stage of northern Europe and the Wisconsin glacial stage of North America. The Alpine glaciations of the Pleistocene

Arctic Fox

2005-02-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

Also called White Fox, or Polar Fox (species Alopex lagopus), northern fox of the family Canidae, found throughout the Arctic, usually on tundra or mountains near the sea. In adaptation to the climate, it has short, rounded ears, a short muzzle, and fur-covered soles. Its length is about 50–60 cm (20–24 inches), exclusive of the 30-centimetre tail; and its weight is about 3–8 kg (6.6–17 pounds). Coloration depends on whether the animal is

Hetaera

2005-02-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

Greek Hetaira (Female Companion), one of a class of professional independent courtesans of ancient Greece who, besides developing physical beauty, cultivated their minds and talents to a degree far beyond that allowed to the average Attic woman. Usually living fashionably alone, or sometimes two or three together, the hetaerae enjoyed an enviable and respected position of wealth

Wagner, Robert F(erdinand)

2005-02-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

Wagner arrived in the United States at the age of eight and settled with his parents in a New York tenement neighborhood. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1898, he went on to obtain a law degree from New York Law School in 1900. Later that year he was

Peter, Gospel Of

2005-02-08T02:17:00.000-08:00

Pseudepigraphal (noncanonical and unauthentic) Christian writing of the mid-2nd century AD, the extant portion of which covers the condemnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus. Because the work reflects the view that Christ's body had only the appearance of reality, Serapion, bishop of Antioch c. AD 190, believed it was written by a member of the heretical Docetist sect.

Scandinavian Literature

2005-02-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

Recommended anthologies are Elias Bredsdorff (ed.), Contemporary Danish Plays (1955, reissued 1970), and Contemporary Danish Prose (1958, reprinted 1974); Modern Nordic Plays: Denmark (1974); Hedin Brønner (trans. and ed.), Faroese Short Stories, trans. from Faroese and Danish (1972); Janet Garton and Henning Sehmsdorf (trans. and eds.), New Norwegian Plays (1989); Frederic Fleisher (trans. and ed.), Seven Swedish Poets (1963); and Gunilla M. Anderman (compiler), New Swedish Plays (1992).

Gyllensten, Lars (johan Wictor)

2005-02-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Gyllensten was reared and educated in Stockholm and was a professor of medicine at the Karolinska Institute for 18 years. He served on the Nobel Committee for Literature from 1968 and was made permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy in 1977. The Swedish Foundation

Percier, Charles; And Fontaine, Pierre (-françois-léonard)

2005-02-07T04:45:00.000-08:00

Percier and Fontaine became acquainted with each other while both were studying architecture in Paris.

Scandinavian Literature, Icelandic literature

2005-02-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

The literary and linguistic renaissance in Iceland at the start of the 19th century was fostered by three men in particular: a philologist, Hallgrímur Scheving; a poet and lexicographer, Sveinbjörn Egilsson; and a philosopher and mathematician, Björn Gunnlaugsson. The principal movement in this renaissance was Romanticism. Inspired by the German philosopher Henrik

Permafrost, Ice wedges

2005-02-05T01:50:00.000-08:00

The most conspicuous and controversial type of ground ice in permafrost is that formed in large ice wedges or masses with parallel or subparallel foliation structures. Most foliated ice masses occur as wedge-shaped, vertical, or inclined sheets or dikes 2.5 centimetres to 3 metres wide and 0.3 to 9 metres high when viewed in transverse cross section. Some masses seen on the

Indiana University

2005-02-04T06:04:00.000-08:00

State system of higher education consisting of the campuses in Bloomington (main), Gary (known as Northwest), South Bend, Kokomo, New Albany (known as Southeast), and Richmond (known as East), as well as schools operated in cooperation with Purdue University at Fort Wayne (known as Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne) and at Indianapolis (known as Indiana

Sukhothai Style

2005-02-03T06:38:00.000-08:00

The most direct influence on Sukhothai style

Chand, Dhyan

2005-02-03T02:59:00.000-08:00

Chand is most remembered for his goal-scoring feats and for his three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey, while India was dominant in the sport. He joined the Indian army in 1922 and came to prominence when he toured New Zealand with the

Nervous System Disease, Nerve injuries

2005-02-02T20:26:00.000-08:00

Nerve injuries function as neuronal neuropathies affecting the axon far from the cell body. Injuries are of three main grades of severity. In neurapraxia there is temporary blockage of impulse conduction, although the axons remain intact. More severe stretch or incision damage interrupts some axons and is called axonotmesis. Injury that actually severs the

Amphibian, Critical appraisal

2005-02-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

The Lissamphibia is a well-corroborated monophyletic group containing all the living orders of amphibians. However, the placement of the Lissamphibia within an overall classification of the Amphibia remains questionable. Within the Lissamphibia the superorder Gymnophiona contains the order Apoda (caecilians) and their sister group, an extinct unnamed taxon

Heimdall

2005-01-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

Old Norse Heimdallr in Norse mythology, the watchman of the gods. Called the shining god and whitest skinned of the gods, Heimdall dwelt at the entry to Asgard, where he guarded Bifrost, the rainbow bridge. He required less sleep than a bird, could see 100 leagues, and could hear grass growing in the meadows and wool growing on sheep. Heimdall kept the “ringing” horn, Gjallarhorn, which could be heard

Pausanias

2005-01-31T05:28:00.000-08:00

A member of the Agiad royal family, Pausanias was the son of King Cleombrotus I and nephew of King Leonidas. He became regent for Leonidas' son after the father was killed at Thermopylae (480). Pausanias commanded the allied Greek army

Korolenko, Vladimir Galaktionovich

2005-01-29T22:02:00.000-08:00

Korolenko was expelled from two colleges for his revolutionary activities. In 1879 he was exiled to the Yakut region (now in Sakha republic) of Siberia, where he encountered the

Eisenstadt

2005-01-29T11:41:00.000-08:00

City, capital (since 1925) of Burgenland Bundesland (federal state), eastern Austria. It lies at the southern end of the Leitha Mountains, south of Vienna. Mentioned in 1264, it was a free city of Hungary from 1648 until Burgenland was ceded to Austria in 1920. Eisenstadt's notable landmarks include the former castle of the Esterházy princes (14th century; rebuilt 1663–72); the Mount Calvary Church (Kalvarienbergkirche),

São Leopoldo

2005-01-29T10:51:00.000-08:00

São Leopoldo serves an agricultural region producing

Courante

2005-01-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Courant (from Latin currere, “to run”), court dance for couples, prominent in the late 16th century and fashionable in aristocratic European ballrooms, especially in France and England, for the next 200 years. It reputedly originated as an Italian folk dance with running steps. As a court dance it was performed with small, back-and-forth, springing steps, later subdued to stately glides.

Kido Takayoshi

2005-01-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

Born into an influential warrior family, Kido early became active in the politics

Osborne, Dorothy, Lady Temple

2005-01-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

English gentlewoman best known for the letters she wrote to her future husband, William Temple, before their marriage. The letters are simply written in an easy, conversational style and present an interesting picture of the life of a young English gentlewoman in the Commonwealth period

Valdemar Ii

2005-01-26T11:28:00.000-08:00

The son and brother, respectively, of the Danish kings Valdemar I and Canute IV, Valdemar acted as the duke of Schleswig from 1188 and conquered

Ahmad Al-mansur

2005-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

Ahmad

Biblical Literature, The patristic period

2005-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Alexandria had long boasted a school of classical study that practiced the allegorical interpretation of the Homeric epics and the Greek myths. This method of exegesis was taken over by Philo and from him by Christian scholars of Alexandria in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215) and Origen (c. 185–c. 254) did not completely rule out the literal sense of

Disjunction

2005-01-24T06:45:00.000-08:00

In logic, relation or connection of terms in a proposition to express the concept “or”; it is a statement of alternatives (sometimes called “alternation”). For clarity, exclusive disjunction (either x or y but not both), symbolized x Ú× y, x Ú y, or x º/y, must be distinguished from inclusive disjunction (either x or y or both x and y), symbolized x Ú y. See also implication.

Nuclear Weapon, The Axis powers

2005-01-23T22:19:00.000-08:00

By the time the war began on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany had a special office for the military application of nuclear fission; chain-reaction experiments with uranium and carbon were being planned, and ways of separating the uranium isotopes were under study. Some measurements on carbon, later shown to be in error, led the physicist Werner Heisenberg to recommend that heavy water

Hamid Dynasty

2005-01-23T21:32:00.000-08:00

Turkmen dynasty (c. 1300–1423) that ruled in southwestern Anatolia. It was founded by Felekuddin Dündar, whose father, Ilyas, was a frontier ruler under the Seljuqs and who named it after his grandfather; Dündar governed the Hamid principality jointly with his brother Yunus, with two capitals, one at Egridir and one at Antalya (Attalia). Dündar was defeated and killed (1324) by Demirtas, the