Arzner, Dorothy

Arzner was reared in Los Angeles, where her family owned a Hollywood

Industrial Diamond

Any diamond that is designated for industrial use, principally as a cutting tool or abrasive. In general, industrial diamonds are too badly flawed, irregularly shaped, poorly coloured, or small to be of value as gems, but they are of vital importance in the modern metalworking and mining industries. Their utility stems from the fact that diamond is the hardest natural

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific region

The central Pacific region lies between the boundaries of the eastern and western regions. The largest and the most geologically stable of the structural provinces of the Earth's crust, it is characterized by expansive areas of low relief, lying at a general depth of about 15,000 feet below the surface.

Zirid Dynasty,

Also called �Banu Ziri� Muslim dynasty of Sanhajah Berbers whose various branches ruled in Ifriqiyah (Tunisia and eastern Algeria) and Granada (972 - 1152). Rising to prominence in the mountains of Kabylie, Algeria, where they established their first capital, Ashir, the Zirids became allies of the Fatimids of al-Qayrawan. Their loyal support prompted the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, when moving to his new capital of

Zirid Dynasty,

Also called �Banu Ziri� Muslim dynasty of Sanhajah Berbers whose various branches ruled in Ifriqiyah (Tunisia and eastern Algeria) and Granada (972 - 1152). Rising to prominence in the mountains of Kabylie, Algeria, where they established their first capital, Ashir, the Zirids became allies of the Fatimids of al-Qayrawan. Their loyal support prompted the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, when moving to his new capital of

Seth

The worship of Seth originally centred at Nubt (Greek Ombos), near modern Tukh, on the western bank of the Nile River. Nubt, with its vast cemetery at nearby Naqadah, was the principal predynastic centre in Upper Egypt. The town lost its preeminent position with the unification of Egypt about 3050 BC, which was carried

Pencil Fish

Any of several slender South American fishes belonging to three groups of characins, treated by some authorities as three separate families and by others as a single family, Characidae. Pencil fish pick animal food from the bottom or from plant surfaces. Most species inhabit slow-moving water and all live in fresh water. Some habitually swim at an angle, tail down,

Sato Haruo

Sato came from a family of physicians with scholarly and literary interests. He entered Keio University in Tokyo to study with the novelist Nagai Kafu in 1910, but he had already joined the Myojo group of poets revolving

Azay-le-rideau

Town and ch�teau, Indre-et-Loire d�partement, Centre r�gion, central France. The town lies along the Indre River a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Loire River, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Tours. Originally the site of a Roman villa, the town was known in the 12th century as Azayum. When the French dauphin (later Charles VII) was insulted by the Burgundian guard

Priesthood

The Vedic, Brahmanic, and Upanishadic conceptions of priesthood and the predominance of the Brahman caste in Hinduism are discussed in Arthur Berriedale Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, 2 vol. (1925, reprinted 1989); S. Radhakrishnan, The Hindu View of Life (1927, reissued 1980), and Eastern Religions and Western Thought, 2nd ed. (1940, reissued 1991); J.H. Hutton, Caste in India, 2nd ed. (1951); and R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism (1962, reissued 1977), with a full bibliography. C.J. Fuller, Servants of the Goddess: The Priests of a South Indian Temple (1984), analyzes the complex interrelationships between the priests of the Minaksi Temple in Madurai and the economic, political, and social structure of contemporary India. V. Bouillier and G. Toffin (eds.), Priesthood, Power, and Authority in the Himalayas (1989), in English and French, is a collection of ethnographic papers concerning the role of the priesthood in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and two tribal religions, the Tharu of Dang and the cult of Kham Magar. The sublimation of priesthood in Buddhism in India, China, and Japan is treated in Paul Dahlke, Buddhism and Its Place in the Mental Life of Mankind (1927); and Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and Development (1951, reissued 1975). D. Howard Smith, Chinese Religions (1968), introduces religious thought and sacerdotal practice in China. Religious Studies in Japan (1959), a collection of papers from the ninth International Congress for the History of Religions, is a very informative composite volume in English by a group of Japanese scholars. Texts concerning the Zen sect include Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Manual of Zen Buddhism, 2nd ed. (1950, reissued 1983); and Alan Watts, The Way of Zen (1957, reprinted 1989); while reference is made to it in R.C. Zaehner, Mysticism, Sacred and Profane (1957, reissued 1980). The priesthood in Shinto is discussed in D.C. Holtom, The National Faith of Japan (1938, reissued 1965).

Pacher, Michael

Little is known of Pacher's early life, but he is thought to have gone to Italy, where he was much impressed by the experiments in perspective of two eminent northern Italian

Estonia, Relief and drainage

The Estonian landscape is largely the product of glacial activity; the south is covered with moraine hills, and the central part abounds in elongated hills with flat tops. The northern part of Estonia is characterized by long narrow swells consisting of deposits left by glacial rivers that formed during the melting of ice. Extensive sandy areas mark what was once

Beyer, Absalon Pederss�

Born on a farm, Beyer was adopted by a bishop after the death of his parents and educated at the universities of Copenhagen and Wittenberg, where he studied under the famous Protestant Reformation scholar Philipp Melanchthon. Beyer was a lecturer at the Bergen Cathedral

Ibn Gabirol

In full� Solomon Ben Yehuda Ibn Gabirol, �Arabic �Abu Ayyub Sulayman Ibn Yahya Ibn Gabirut, �Latin �Avicebron, or Avencebrol� one of the outstanding figures of the Hebrew school of religious and secular poetry during the Jewish Golden Age in Moorish Spain. He was also an important Neoplatonic philosopher.

Saarinen, Eero

Like many contemporary architects, Saarinen was challenged by furniture design, especially the chair, which presents aesthetical and structural problems that are particularly difficult to solve. In 1941 he and the designer-architect Charles Eames won a national furniture award for a chair design in molded plywood. In 1948 Saarinen created a womblike chair using a glass

Hoover, J. Edgar

Hoover studied law at night at George Washington University, where he received degrees as bachelor of laws in 1916 and as

Gamma Decay

Type of radioactivity in which some unstable atomic nuclei dissipate excess energy by a spontaneous electromagnetic process. In the most common form of gamma decay, known as gamma emission, gamma rays (photons, or packets of electromagnetic energy, of extremely short wavelength) are radiated. Gamma decay also includes two other electromagnetic processes, internal

Earhart, Amelia

Amelia Earhart, Last Flight, arranged by George Palmer Putnam (1937, reissued 1988), contains journal entries and messages sent home, selected and arranged by her husband. Biographies include George Palmer Putnam, Soaring Wings (1939, reissued 1972); Doris L. Rich, Amelia Earhart (1989); Mary S. Lovell, The Sound of Wings (1989); Susan Butler, East to the Dawn (1997); and Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Amelia (1997). Randall Brink, Lost Star: The Search for Amelia Earhart (1994), examines her disappearance.

Tsuruga

City, Fukui ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It faces Tsuruga Bay of the Sea of Japan. A flourishing port since early historic times, it was one of the main centres of communication with the Asian mainland and a major shipment centre for the former national capitals of Nara and Kyoto. Tsuruga's industrial base was developed after World War II with factories producing synthetic

Ovary

In zoology, female reproductive organ in which sex cells (eggs or ova) are produced. The usually paired ovaries of female vertebrates produce both the sex cells and the hormones necessary for reproduction. In some invertebrate groups such as coelenterates, formation of ovaries is associated with the seasons. Many invertebrates

Metalmark

Most males possess reduced front legs; females have functional

Literature

The most distinctive feature of Italian literature in 2001 was the publication of several novels whose settings in the recent past served as a framework for a reflection on history. Davide Longo's Un mattino a Irgalem takes place during the Italian colonization of Ethiopia, a topic traditionally neglected by historians and creative writers. In the action a short and

Mauer

Pleistocene locality on the Neckar River of Germany and the name of a Pleistocene deposit, the Mauer Sands (the Pleistocene epoch began about 1,600,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Mauer Sands are about 64 feet (20 m) thick and contained the fossil remains of the sabre-toothed cat, bear, horse, hippopotamus, and extinct elephant; Germany's oldest human fragment, the Heidelberg

Anastasius Ii

In notifying the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I of his accession, Anastasius expressed a conciliatory attitude toward the late patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, who had been deposed and excommunicated in 484 by Pope St. Felix III. The Acacian Schism resulted from this act. The pope's reception of the Byzantine deacon Photinus,

Insurance, Limitations on amount recoverable

Recovery under homeowner's forms is limited to loss due directly to the occurrence of an insured peril. Losses caused by some intervening source not insured by the policy are not covered. For example, if a flood or a landslide, which usually are excluded perils, severely damages a house that subsequently is destroyed by fire, the homeowner's recovery from the fire is

Cymophane

Variety of the gemstone chrysoberyl (q.v.).

Roman Catholic Church Of Romania

An Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with Rome. The Byzantine rite Catholic Church originated after the Turks ceded Transylvania to the Catholic Habsburgs (1699); at that time a large group of Orthodox Romanians, pressed by the imperial government, accepted the authority of Rome. In 1948 the Byzantine rite church was legally suppressed by the Communist