Chardin, Jean

In August 1671 he again set out for Persia. Traveling through

Amazon River, Early European exploration

In the early days the river was the only means of access into the forest. Francisco de Orellana descended the main course of the river from the Peruvian Andes to the Atlantic in 1541–42. Nearly a century later, Pedro Teixeira went from Belém to Quito, Ecuador, and the region increasingly became known through the explorations of the Portuguese. In 1743 the French naturalist Charles-Marie

Mina

The earliest of all known units of weight, created by the Babylonians and used by the Hittites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks. Its weight and relationship to its major subdivisions varied at different times and places in the ancient world. In one surviving form, from the Babylonian period, the mina weighs about 640 grams, while in another it weighs

Multinational And Regional Organizations

On May 31, 1997, the foreign ministers of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and announced that they would embrace Myanmar (Burma), Laos, and Cambodia as full members at the group's 30th anniversary meeting in July. The announcement was controversial because, in the words of Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Fable

The origins of fable are lost in the mists of time. Fables appear independently in ancient Indian and Mediterranean cultures. The Western tradition begins effectively with Aesop (6th century BC), of whom little or nothing is known for certain; but before him the Greek poet Hesiod (8th century BC) recounts the fable of the hawk and the nightingale, while fragments of similar

Cyprus, Flag Of

For centuries Cyprus was part of the Ottoman Empire and flew Turkish flags. By agreement with the Turkish sovereign, however, the British assumed administrative control of the island in 1878 and subsequently flew the Union Jack there. During World War I the island was annexed by the British, and other colonial flags were then introduced. For example, to the British Red

Anti-federalists

In early U.S. history, a loose political coalition of popular politicians such as Patrick Henry who unsuccessfully opposed the strong central government envisioned in the U.S. Constitution of 1787 and whose agitations led to the addition of a Bill of Rights. The first in the long line of states'-rights advocates, they feared the authority of a single national government,

Gyllenborg, Gustaf Fredrik, Greve (count)

Swedish poet known for his satirical and reflective poetry. Although members of his family were prominent in political life, as a courtier he took no part in politics and attacked the weaknesses of modern society in the spirit of the French Romantic philosopher Rousseau in such poems as “Verldsföraktaren

Paustovsky, Konstantin Georgiyevich

A descendant of Ukrainian Cossacks, Paustovsky attended school in Kiev, St. Petersburg, and Odessa. Before he began to write, he worked at various jobs; he also traveled a good deal, both in

Xavier, Saint Francis

James Brodrick, Saint Francis Xavier, 1506–1552 (1952), a standard biography in English; Georg Schurhammer, Franz Xaver: Sein Leben und seine Zeit (1955–71; Francis Xavier: His Life and Times, 1973), the definitive biography.

Aschelminth, Internal features

The graceful body waves by which nematodes move are brought about by the alternating contraction of dorsal and ventral longitudinal muscles acting on the cuticle and opposed by hydrostatic pressure in the body tissues. This hydraulic skeleton affects all aspects of the nematode. The cuticle must resist stretching in length and circumference and yet remain

Nation, Carry

Carry Moore as a child experienced poverty, her mother's mental instability, and frequent bouts of ill health. Although she held a teaching certificate from a state normal school, her education was intermittent. In 1867 she married a young physician,

Avon, River

With a drainage area

Sherer, Rabbi Moshe

American Orthodox Jewish leader who aided the right wing of Orthodox Judaism by helping build the Agudath Israel of America organization from a small group into an influential force (b. June 8, 1921, Brooklyn, N.Y.--d. May 17, 1998, Manhattan, N.Y.).

Aurangzeb

Relevant historical background is provided in S.M. Edwardes and H.L.O. Garrett, Mughal Rule in India (1930, reprinted 1976); and Robert C. Hallissey, The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb: A Study of the Mughal Empire in Seventeenth-Century India (1977). Kalika-Ranjan Qanungo, Dara Shukon, 2nd ed. (1952), analyzes the rivalry for the throne. Detailed biographies are Jadunath Sarkar, History of Aurangzib: Based on Original Sources, 5 vol. (1924–30, reprinted in 4 vol., 1972–74); and Muni Lal, Aurangzeb (1988).

China, The Shih-liu kuo (Sixteen Kingdoms) in the north (303–439)

The term Sixteen Kingdoms traditionally denotes the plethora of short-lived non-Chinese dynasties that from 303 came to rule the whole or parts of northern China. Many ethnic groups were involved, including ancestors of the Turks (such as the Hsiung-nu, possibly related to the Huns of late Roman history, and the Chieh), the Mongolians (Hsien-pei), and the Tibetans (Ti and Ch'iang).

Fuller, R(ichard) Buckminster

U.S. engineer and architect who developed the geodesic dome, the only large dome that can be set directly on the ground as a complete structure, and the only practical kind of building that has no limiting dimensions (i.e., beyond which the structural strength must be insufficient). Among the most noteworthy geodesic domes is the United

Chorion

In vertebrates, the chorion is covered with ectoderm lined with mesoderm (both are germ layers) and is separated from other embryonic membranes by an extraembryonic body cavity,

G.m.

Recipient of the George Medal, a British decoration for valour. See George Cross.

Bottome, Margaret Mcdonald

Née  Margaret McDonald  American columnist and religious organizer, founder of the Christian spiritual development and service organization now known as the International Order of the King's Daughters and Sons. She attended school in Brooklyn and in 1850 married the Reverend Frank Bottome. Her long-standing practice of giving informal talks on the Bible

Prickleback

Any of numerous fishes constituting the family Stichaeidae (order Perciformes). All of the approximately 60 species are marine, and most are restricted to the northern Pacific Ocean; a few species occur in the North Atlantic. Members of the family are characteristically elongate, with a low dorsal fin running the length of the body. In most species the pelvic fins are

Paradoxides Series

Rocks deposited during the Middle Cambrian Period in western Europe and Scandinavia and in eastern North America (the Middle Cambrian Period lasted from 520 to 512 million years ago). The Paradoxides Series is characterized by the fossil occurrence of trilobites of the family Paradoxididae and other trilobites, such as the genera Agnostus and Eodiscus.

Lowden, Frank Orren

Lowden attended law school in Chicago and within a few years of graduating had become a prominent and prosperous corporate attorney. Throughout his legal and political career, he remained

Lupus Erythematosus

Discoid lupus affects only the skin and does not usually involve internal organs. The term discoid refers to a rash of distinct reddened patches covered with grayish brown scales that may appear on the

Jack-o'-lantern

In American holiday custom, a hollowed-out-pumpkin lantern that is displayed on Halloween. The surface of the pumpkin is carved to resemble a face. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable

Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen; And Moe, Jørgen Engebretsen

Closely united in their lives and work, the two men are rarely named separately. They met as youths in 1827 and became “blood

Baseball

The Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of the Pacific League (PL) defeated the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League (CL) four games to one in the 1999 best-of-seven Japan Series. The team had last won the championship series title in 1964, as the Nankai Hawks. Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh, the world's home-run record holder (868), celebrated with the city of Fukuoka, which had awaited the crown for

O'brien, Lawrence (francis, Jr.)

O'Brien received a bachelor of law degree from Northeastern University, Boston (1942). A brilliant political strategist, he managed a victorious (1948) congressional campaign for his boyhood friend Foster Furcolo and then John F. Kennedy's 1952 and 1958 U.S. Senate

Tibet

Tibetan  Bod,  in full  Tibet Autonomous Region,  Chinese (Wade-Giles)  Hsi-tsang Tzu-chih-ch'ü,  (Pinyin)  Xizang Zizhiqu   historic region and autonomous region of China that is often called “the roof of the world.” It occupies about 471,700 square miles (1,221,600 square kilometres) of the plateaus and mountains of Central Asia, including Mount Everest (Chu-mu-lang-ma Feng). It is bordered by the Chinese provinces of Tsinghai to the northeast, Szechwan to the east, and Yunnan to the southeast; Myanmar (Burma), India,

Malatesta, Sigismondo Pandolfo

Sigismondo was one of three illegitimate sons of Pandolfo Malatesta, who had ruled over Brescia and Bergamo from about 1404 to 1421. Sigismondo was legitimated by Pope Martin V, but he felt no loyalty toward the papacy, which deprived his family of many of

Subud

Religious movement, based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises, founded by an Indonesian, Muhammad Subuh, called Bapak. A student of Sufism (Islamic mysticism) as a youth, Bapak had a powerful mystical experience in 1925, and in 1933 he claimed that the mission to found the Subud movement was revealed to him. The movement was restricted to Indonesia until the 1950s, when it spread to Europe

Molecular Beam

Any stream or ray of molecules moving in the same general direction, usually in a vacuum—i.e., inside an evacuated chamber. In this context the word molecule includes atoms as a special case. Most commonly, the molecules comprising the beam are at a low density; that is, they are far enough apart to move independently of each other. Because of the one-directional motion of

Sano

City, Tochigi ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Watarase River, a tributary of the Ione River. Sano is surrounded by low hills and occupies a plain, a plateau, and alluvial lowlands. Sano was a castle town during the Middle Ages and a post town and market centre during the Tokugawa era (1603–1867). Industry developed after the late 19th century, and the city now produces concrete, roof

Ankh

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph signifying “life,” a cross surmounted by a loop and known in Latin as a crux ansata (ansate, or handle-shaped, cross). It is found in ancient tomb inscriptions, including those of the king Tutankhamen, and gods and pharaohs are often depicted holding it. The ankh forms part of hieroglyphs for such concepts as health and happiness. The form of the

Brugge-zeebrugge Canal

Waterway built between 1896 and 1907 to connect Brugge (Bruges) in Belgium with the North Sea, thus restoring Brugge's ancient status as an ocean port. At 7.5 miles (12 km) long, the canal has a depth of 24 feet (7 m), a minimum width of 65.7 feet (20 m), a maximum width of 350 feet (110 m), and one lock.

Jackson, John

American blues guitarist (b. Feb. 25, 1924, Woodville, Va.—d. Jan. 20, 2002, Fairfax, Va.), was considered a master of the Piedmont blues tradition. While playing guitar for friends at a gas station in Fairfax, Va., in 1964, Jackson was discovered by University of Virginia folklorist Charles L. Perdue, who subsequently arranged for Jackson to go on tour and introduced him to record company executives.

Steiermark

English  Styria  Bundesland (federal province), southeastern and central Austria, bordering Slovenia on the south and bounded by Bundesländer Kärnten (Carinthia) on the south, Salzburg on the west, Oberösterreich and Niederösterreich (Upper and Lower Austria) on the north, and Burgenland on the east. It has an area of 6,327 sq mi (16,387 sq km). Upper Steiermark extends in the north from the Limestone

Saarinen, Eero

There are only two books devoted entirely to Saarinen's work. Eero Saarinen on His Work, ed. by his wife, Aline Saarinen (1962), contains Saarinen's own comments but no supplementary evaluation. It includes a listing of the architect's buildings and is handsomely illustrated. Allan Temko, Eero Saarinen (1962), is an informative, well-illustrated, brief account with evaluation. Details on individual buildings have been reported and illustrated in professional architectural journals.

Mulaydah, Battle Of Al-

The Wahhabi prince 'Abd Allah lost many of the territories that his father, Faysal (reigned 1834–65), had acquired by conquest

Calendar, Early history

The oldest system, in many respects the basis of the classical one, is known from texts of about 1000 BC. It divides an approximate solar year of 360 days into 12 lunar months of 27 (according to the early Vedic text Taittiriya Samhita 4.4.10.1–3) or 28 (according to the Atharvaveda, the fourth of the Vedas, 19.7.1.) days. The resulting discrepancy was resolved by the intercalation of a leap month every 60 months. Time

Epistemology, Aristotle

In Posterior Analytics, Aristotle (384–22 BC) analyzes scientific knowledge in terms of necessary propositions that express causal relations. Such knowledge takes the form of categorical syllogisms, in which the middle term causally and necessarily connects the major and minor terms. For example, because all stars are distant and all distant objects twinkle, it follows

Arnaud, Georges

Arnaud's father was Georges Girard, a state official and noted historian who was killed along with Arnaud's aunt on the family estate near Perigueux in central France (1941). Accused of the murders, Arnaud spent 19 months in jail before he was declared innocent in 1943. Disgusted with the judicial system,

Ashikaga Yoshiaki

Shogun (hereditary military dictator) of Japan who was the 15th and last of his family to hold the title. Yoshiaki had been a priest, but in 1568, with the aid of his protector, the general Oda Nobunaga, he deposed his cousin Yoshihide and took over the shogunate. Subsequently, rivalry developed between Yoshiaki and Oda, and the latter deposed Yoshiaki and banished

Gipon

Later in the century the gipon became shorter, and it was replaced by the doublet in the 15th and 16th centuries. For a time it was called a pourpoint.

Jacobi, Abraham

Because he took part in the German revolutionary movement (1848), Jacobi was imprisoned in Berlin and Cologne during the year of his graduation in medicine

Saab Ab

Saab was incorporated in 1937 as Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget. The company was engaged primarily in the production of aircraft until the mid-1940s, when it began manufacturing

Chicago

Until the 1830s a minor trading post at

New Age Movement

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

France, History Of, The restoration of the empire

When by the end of the 8th century Charles was master of a great part of the West, he reestablished the empire in his own name. He was crowned emperor in Rome (Christmas Day, 800), by Pope Leo III. Charlemagne's powers in Rome and in relation to the Papal States, which were incorporated, with some degree of autonomy, into the Frankish empire, were clarified. Although his new title did

Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank

Among the businesses the bank developed were commercial banking

I-n-salah

Also spelled  Aïn Salah,   oasis town, central Algeria, on the southern edge of the arid Tademaït Plateau. At the crossing of ancient trans-Saharan caravan routes, it was once an important trade link between northern and central Africa but has declined in modern times owing to high transportation costs and the exodus of workers to the developing gas fields 60 miles (100 km) southwest. Mainly visited

Cumberland Islands

Archipelago in the Great Barrier Reef, off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. The group comprises more than 70 inner continental islands (land, not coral), including Whitsunday, Lindeman, Brampton, Molle, Long, Hook, Dent, and Hayman. The high-cliffed wooded chain, once inhabited by squatters and timber cutters, is now a reserve area. Discovered in 1770 by Captain James

France, History Of, France since 1815

Volumes 2 and 3 of the already mentioned Alfred Cobban, A History of Modern France, 3 vol. (1957–62, reprinted 1969), present the period from the First Empire to the Republics in a sophisticated synthesis; and Gordon Wright, France in Modern Times: From the Enlightenment to the Present, 4th ed. (1987), is an interpretive general survey. Appropriate parts of the massive collective work Histoire économique et sociale de la France, 4 vol. in 8 (1970–82), Fernand Braudel and Ernest Labrousse (eds.), provide coverage by some of the best French experts of economic and social developments up to the last quarter of the 20th century. Surveys of special topics on all or most of the period since 1815 include René Rémond, The Right Wing in France from 1815 to De Gaulle, 2nd ed. (1969; originally published in French, 3rd ed., 1968; rev. French ed., 1982), tracing change and continuity of the political right; Gérard Cholvy and Yves-Marie Hilaire, Histoire religieuse de la France contemporaine, 3 vol. (1985–88), an analysis of the role of various religions; and Raoul Girardet, La Société militaire dans la France contemporaine, 1815–1939 (1953), on the changing role and composition of the military corps. The role of France in world affairs is emphasized in Pierre Renouvin, Le XIXe, 2 vol. (1954–55), on the developments of the 19th century, part of the series “Histoire des relations internationales.” François Caron, An Economic History of Modern France, trans. from French (1979, reissued 1983), revises older views about France's rate of growth; Theodore Zeldin, France, 1848–1945, 2 vol. (1973–77), explores modern French society, stressing its complexity and continuity; and Eugen Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France (1976), argues that a sense of nationhood came to rural France only in the late 19th century. Period studies include Guillaume de Bertier de Sauvigny, The Bourbon Restoration (1966, originally published in French, 1955), the standard work on the period 1815–1830; David H. Pinkney, Decisive Years in France, 1840–1847 (1986), arguing that France changed fundamentally in these years; Roger Price, The French Second Republic: A Social History (1972), a thoughtful reevaluation; Ted W. Margadant, French Peasants in Revolt: The Insurrection of 1851 (1979), suggesting that leftist views remained vigorous after 1848; J.P.T. Bury, Napoléon III and the Second Empire (1964), a well-informed analysis; Michael Howard, The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870–1871 (1961, reissued 1981), a model study; and Stewart Edwards, The Paris Commune, 1871 (1971), a balanced reevaluation. Roger Shattuck, The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant Garde in France, 1885 to World War I, rev. ed. (1968, reissued 1984), is a brilliant survey of Parisian culture of the period; and Charles Rearick, Pleasures of the Belle Epoque: Entertainment and Festivity in Turn-of-the-Century France (1985), describes the high life in Monmartre. D.W. Brogan, France Under the Republic: The Development of Modern France, 1870–1939 (1940, reprinted 1974), is a classic account; Jacques Chastenet, Histoire de la Troisième République, 7 vol. (1952–63, reissued in 4 vol., 1974), remains the most detailed treatment of the period; David Thomson, Democracy in France Since 1870, 5th ed. (1969), offers a penetrating study of political and social aspects; and Jean-Denis Bredin, The Affair: The Case of Alfred Dreyfus (1986; originally published in French, 1983), provides a highly readable account of the great crisis. For the 20th century, see Eugen Weber, Action Française: Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth Century France (1962), a full analysis of this right-wing movement; Zeev Sternhell, La Droite Révolutionnaire, 1885–1914: les origines françaises du fascisme (1978, reprinted 1984), a controversial argument that fascism was born in France; Marc Ferro, The Great War, 1914–1918 (1973, reissued 1987; originally published in French, 1969), a good synthesis; Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940–1944 (1972, reissued 1982), a critical analysis of the Pétain regime; Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, La Décadence, 1932–1939, 3rd rev. ed. (1985), and L'Abîme: 1939–1945, 2nd rev. ed. (1986), two volumes of devastating analysis of French foreign policy before and during World War II; Charles de Gaulle, War Memoirs, 5 vol. (1955–60; originally published in French, 1954–59), and Memoirs of Hope: Renewal and Endeavor (1971; originally published in French, 2 vol., 1970–71), indispensable for an understanding of the Gaullist era; Jean Lacouture, Charles de Gaulle, 3 vol. (1984–86), a full and perceptive biography; Philip M. Williams, Crisis and Compromise: Politics in the Fourth Republic, 3rd ed. (1964, reissued 1972), an excellent account of that system of government; Pierre Viansson-Ponté, Histoire de la république gaullienne, 2 vol. (1970–71, reissued in 1 vol., 1984), on the Fifth Republic's Gaullist phase; Stanley Hoffmann et al., In Search of France (1963), an analysis of postwar France; George Ross, Stanley Hoffmann, and Sylvia Malzacher (eds.), The Mitterrand Experiment: Continuity and Change in Modern France (1987), a study of the socialist years; and Alfred Grosser, Affaires extérieures: la politique de la France, 1944–1989 (1989), a penetrating analysis of postwar France's role in the world.

Bohuslän

Hällristningar, or rock carvings,

Radar, Interference

Signals from nearby radars and other transmitters can be strong enough to enter a radar receiver and produce spurious responses. Well-trained operators are not often deceived by interference, though they may find it a nuisance. Interference is not as easily ignored by automatic detection and tracking systems, however, and so some method is usually needed to recognize

Turf

In horticulture, the surface layer of soil with its matted, dense vegetation, usually grasses grown for ornamental or recreational use. Such turf grasses include Kentucky bluegrass, creeping bent grass, fine or red fescue, and perennial ryegrass among the popular cool-season types and Bermuda grass, zoysia grass, and St. Augustine grass among the warm-season

Elijah Ben Solomon

The best accounts available in English are found in Solomon Schechter, Studies in Judaism, First Series (1896, reissued 1945); and Louis Ginzberg, Students, Scholars, and Saints (1928, reprinted 1985).