Wells, H(erbert) G(eorge)

English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, best known for such science fiction as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds and such comic novels as Tono-Bungay and The History of Mr. Polly.

Zamosc

City, Zamosc wojew�dztwo (province), east-central Poland. One of the few large communities in the Lublin uplands, it was founded on the estates of Polish chancellor Jan Zamoyski (1542 - 1605) that lay on the trade route between the Black Sea and northern and western Europe. In 1578 the Paduan architect Bernardo Morando conceived and implemented the city's modern design, which remains a

Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry

Educated at Dulwich College (1887 - 90), Shackleton entered the mercantile marine service in 1890 and became a sublieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve in 1901. He joined Captain Robert Falcon Scott's British National Antarctic (Discovery) Expedition (1901 - 04) as third

Guayas River

Spanish �R�o Guayas, � river system of the coastal lowlands of Ecuador. Its eastern tributaries rise on the western slopes of the Andes and descend to drain the wet lowlands. Official usage as to how much of the system should be called the Guayas River differs; the name is certainly applied to the unified stream formed just above the city of Guayaquil by the two principal tributaries, the

Gaud�, Antoni

Catalan in full �Antoni Gaud� i Cornet�, Spanish �Antonio Gaud� y Cornet � Catalan architect, whose distinctive style is characterized by freedom of form, voluptuous colour and texture, and organic unity. Gaud� worked almost entirely in or near Barcelona. Much of his career was occupied with the construction of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (Sagrada Familia), which was unfinished at his death in

House

In astrology, 1 of the 12 sectors, or divisions, of the celestial sphere. See horoscope.

Abe Isoo

Abe was attracted to socialism while studying for the ministry in the United States, where he graduated from the Hartford (Conn.)

Faience Patriotique

French 18th-century earthenware, chiefly plates and jugs, decorated with themes drawn from the French Revolution and its ideology or from national political events. The first example of a faience patriotique was a Moustiers dish occasioned by the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, but it was the Revolution that inspired the greatest production of faience patriotique. A number

Chang Hsien-chung

Pinyin �Zhang Xianzhong, �byname �Yellow Tiger� Chinese rebel leader at the close of the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644). Following a disastrous famine in the northern province of Shensi in 1628, Chang became the leader of a gang of freebooters. Using hit-and-run tactics, he and his men plundered widely throughout North China. Although his forces were bought off several times

Insurance, Group insurance

Groups have always been important in the insurance field, from the burial societies of the Romans and the insurance funds of the medieval guilds to the fraternal and religious insurance plans of modern times. In the 20th century private insurance companies have written increasingly large amounts of group insurance, particularly in life insurance, health insurance,

Soranus

In Roman religion, the underworld deity worshiped on Mount Soracte in southern Etruria. As priests, the hirpi Sorani celebrated a rite in which they marched barefoot over burning coals. Soranus was identified with Dis, the Roman god of the underworld, or with Apollo, a Greek god adopted by the Romans, and had a female partner, Feronia, a goddess of uncertain

Gahn, Johan Gottlieb

Swedish mineralogist and crystallographer who discovered manganese in 1774. His failure to win fame may be related to the fact that he published little. He saved the notes, papers, and letters of his friend Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who discovered chlorine, but not his own. His essays on the balance and use of the blowpipe in analysis

Interior Design, General works

Arnold Friedmann, John F. Pile, and Forrest Wilson, Interior Design: An Introduction to Architectural Interiors (1970), an introduction to the field of interior architecture written for students of design; Sherrill Whiton, Elements of Interior Design and Decoration, 3rd ed. (1963), a scholarly text; Ray and Sarah Faulkner, Inside Today's Home, 3rd ed. (1968), a thorough and well-illustrated book on the interior design of homes; Diana Rowntree, Interior Design (1964), a brief and personal view of interior design written primarily for British readers; Edgar Kaufman, What Is Modern Interior Design? (1953, reprinted 1969), a very brief but perceptive treatise. A later monograph on home decorating is Mary Gilliat, The Decorating Book (1981), with special photography by Michael Dunne.

Biblical Literature, Micah

The Book of Micah, the sixth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, was written by the prophet Micah in the 8th century BCE. Composed of seven chapters, the book is similar in many ways to the Book of Amos. Micah attacked the corruption of those in high places and social injustice, and the book is divided into two sections: (1) judgments against Judah and Jerusalem (chapters 1 - 3); and (2) promises

Priesthood, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto in China and Japan

In the Mahayana Buddhist sects, the monks, and those who are popularly known as bonzes, can hardly be said to exercise definitely sacerdotal functions in the temples, monasteries, and shrines. For the most part these functions have been confined to recitations and invocations, which all of the believers share. In China the Taoist �priesthood� emerged as an organized institution

Priesthood, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shinto in China and Japan

In the Mahayana Buddhist sects, the monks, and those who are popularly known as bonzes, can hardly be said to exercise definitely sacerdotal functions in the temples, monasteries, and shrines. For the most part these functions have been confined to recitations and invocations, which all of the believers share. In China the Taoist �priesthood� emerged as an organized institution

Islam, Shrines of Sufi saints

By the late 20th century, the Sufi shrines, which were managed privately in earlier periods, were almost entirely owned

Arfvedsonite

Amphibole mineral, an iron-rich sodium silicate. Lithium and magnesium replace iron in the structure to form eckermannite. Both minerals characteristically occur as dark-green crystals in alkali igneous rocks and their associated pegmatites. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see amphibole (table).

Sculpture, Devotional images and narrative sculpture

The production of devotional images has been one of the sculptor's main tasks, and many of the world's greatest sculptures are of this kind. They include images of Buddha and the Hindu gods; of Christ, the Virgin, and the Christian saints; of Athena, Aphrodite, Zeus, and other Greek gods; and of all the various gods, spirits, and mythical beings of Rome, the ancient Near East, pre-Columbian

New Braunfels

City, seat (1846) of Comal county and also partly in Guadalupe county, south-central Texas, U.S. It lies on the Balcones Escarpment at a point where the Comal River (3 miles [5 km] long and within city limits) flows into the Guadalupe River, 30 miles (50 km) northeast of San Antonio. The community was established in 1845 by a group of German immigrants led by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels and sponsored

Basel-landschaft

French �B�le-campagne, � Halbkanton (�demicanton�), northern Switzerland, traversed by the Jura Mountains and drained by the Ergolz and Birs rivers. It was formed in 1833 by the division of Basel canton into two half cantons, or demicantons, and its early history is linked with Basel (q.v.) city. Its present constitution dates from 1892, and its capital is Liestal (q.v.). Approximately one-third of its 165 square miles

Basel-landschaft

French �B�le-campagne, � Halbkanton (�demicanton�), northern Switzerland, traversed by the Jura Mountains and drained by the Ergolz and Birs rivers. It was formed in 1833 by the division of Basel canton into two half cantons, or demicantons, and its early history is linked with Basel (q.v.) city. Its present constitution dates from 1892, and its capital is Liestal (q.v.). Approximately one-third of its 165 square miles

China, Communist growth

The Communist armies were growing rapidly in 1943 and 1944. According to U.S. war correspondents visiting the Yen-an area in May 1944 and to a group of U.S. observers that established itself there in July, the Communists professed allegiance to democracy and to continued cooperation with the National Government in the war effort. There was convincing evidence that the areas under

Arts, Central Asian, Samanids

The Samanids centred their kingdom in Khorasan. In the 9th century, under the leadership of Esma'il, they ruled over Transoxania and eastern Persia from their capital of Bukhara. Esma'il's t�rbe, or mausoleum, the oldest Islamic monument surviving in Bukhara, reproduces the form of the Zoroastrian chanar taq, or fire temple. In Samanid and Seljuqid hands, the t�rbe generally took the

Sankaran Nair, Sir Chettur

Sankaran Nair

Legume

Also called �pod� fruit of plants of the order Fabales (q.v.), consisting of the single family Leguminosae, or Fabaceae (peas, beans, vetch, and so on). The dry fruit releases its seeds by splitting open along two seams. Legumes furnish food for humans and animals and provide edible oils, fibres, and raw material for plastics. Nutritionally, they are high in protein and contain many of the essential

Parameters, Variation Of

To illustrate the method, suppose it is desired to find a particular solution of the equation y� p

Christadelphian

(Greek: �Brother of Christ�), member of a Christian sect founded about 1848 by John Thomas, who, after studying medicine in London, Eng., migrated to Brooklyn, N.Y. He at first joined the followers of Thomas and Alexander Campbell, founders of the Disciples of Christ (Christians), but eventually he began preaching independently, largely applying Hebrew prophecy and the book of Revelation

Cronus

Also spelled �Cronos, or Kronos� , in ancient Greek religion, male deity who was worshiped by the pre-Hellenic population of Greece but probably was not widely worshiped by the Greeks themselves; he was later identified with the Roman god Saturn. Cronus' functions were connected with agriculture; in Attica his festival, the Kronia, celebrated the harvest and resembled the Saturnalia. In art he was

Chiba

City and capital of Chiba ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the Boso Peninsula about 20 miles (30 km) southeast of Tokyo and on the east coast of Tokyo Bay. It was a castle town controlled by the Chiba family in the 12th - 15th century, and during the Tokugawa period (1603 - 1867) it served as a post-station town for several major roads. The town grew after the construction of a railway connecting

Chablis

Chablis vineyards