West Bengal, Agriculture

Agriculture dominates both the landscape and the economy. West Bengal exceeds all other states in its proportion of agricultural land (65 percent). Rice, which requires extensive irrigation, is the leading crop in every district except Darjiling, where it is surpassed by millet. Despite the small area of the state, West Bengal plants 14 percent of the nation's rice area and

Chatterton, Thomas

At first considered slow in learning, Chatterton had a tearful childhood, choosing the solitude of an attic and making no progress with his alphabet. One day, seeing his mother

Arnolfo Di Cambio

Arnolfo studied painting under Cimabue and sculpture under Nicola Pisano. He served as assistant to Pisano in 1265 - 68 in the production of the pulpit for the Siena Cathedral. Arnolfo went to Rome

Gamow, George

Original Russian �Georgy Antonovich Gamov � Russian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big-bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. In addition, his work on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) made a basic contribution

Liquidity Preference

In economics, the premium that wealth holders demand for exchanging ready money or bank deposits for safe, non-liquid assets such as government bonds. As originally employed by John Maynard Keynes, liquidity preference referred to the relationship between the quantity of money the public wishes to hold and the interest rate. According to Keynes, the public holds

Feminism

Throughout most of Western history, women were confined to the domestic sphere, while public life was reserved

Nicaea, Empire Of

Theodore fled to Anatolia with other Byzantine leaders after the Latin crusaders' conquest of Constantinople in 1204, establishing

Biogeographic Region

It is a matter of general experience that the plants and animals of the land and inland waters differ to a greater or lesser degree from one part of the world to another. Why should this be? Why should the same species not exist wherever suitable environmental conditions

Fuchs, Ruth

In 1972, just 35 minutes after Polish athlete Ewa Gryziecka had set a record for the women's javelin throw, Fuchs threw the javelin more than 2.3 m (7 feet 6 inches) farther, a total of 65.06 m (213 feet 5 1/2 inches), her first world record. She went on to set a

Plomer, William (charles Franklyn)

Plomer was educated in England but returned with his family to South Africa after World War I. His experience as an apprentice on a remote farm in the eastern Cape when he was 17 alerted

Mitchell, Joan

Mitchell attended Smith College (1942 - 44), Northampton, Mass., U.S., and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, receiving a bachelor of fine arts degree (1947) and, after scholarship study in France, a master of fine arts degree (1950). In the early 1950s she studied art briefly

Mitchell, Joan

Mitchell attended Smith College (1942 - 44), Northampton, Mass., U.S., and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, receiving a bachelor of fine arts degree (1947) and, after scholarship study in France, a master of fine arts degree (1950). In the early 1950s she studied art briefly

Earth Sciences, Concepts of landform evolution

The scientific exploration of the American West following the end of the Civil War yielded much new information on the sculpture of the landscape by streams. John Wesley Powell in his reports on the Colorado River and Uinta Mountains (1875, 1876) explained how streams may come to flow across mountain ranges rather than detour around them. The Green River does not follow some

Viola

Genus of about 500 species of herbs or low shrubs, including the small, solid-coloured violets and the larger-flowered, often multicoloured violas and pansies. Viola occur naturally worldwide but are found most abundantly in temperate climates, with the greatest variety occurring in the Andes Mountains of South America. They have also been widely cultivated

New England Confederation

Also called �United Colonies of New England� in British American colonial history, a federation of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, and Plymouth established in May 1643 by delegates from those four Puritan colonies. Several factors influenced the formation of this alliance, including the solution of trade, boundary, and religious disputes, but the principal impetus was a concern over defense against attacks

Papacy

The office and jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome, or the pope (Latin: papa, from the Greek pappas, �father�), who presides over the central government of the Roman Catholic church, the largest of the three major branches of Christianity. The term pope was originally applied to all the bishops in the West and also used to describe the patriarch of Alexandria, who still retains

Lappi

In full� Lapin L��ni, �Swedish �Lapplands L�n, �also called �Lapland, � l��ni (province), northern Finland. It is bounded on the north by Norway, on the east by Russia, and on the west by Sweden. Its land area, extending mainly north of the Arctic Circle, comprises more than one-fourth of Finland's total area. The province is drained southwestward to the Gulf of Bothnia by the Kemi River and northward to the Barents Sea by the Paats River. Lappi is

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Allegory

Allegory, as the basic process of arousing in the reader or listener a response to levels of meaning, provides writers with the structure of fables, parables, and other related forms. By awakening the impulse to question appearances and by bringing order to mythological interpretation, allegory imparts cultural values. A measure of allegory is present in literature

Sasolburg

Town, northern Free State province, South Africa, south of Johannesburg. Established in 1954, it was built by Sasol Ltd. (the former South African Coal, Oil, and Gas Corporation Ltd.) to house employees at the world's first oil-from-coal plant producing commercial quantities of oil. The location was selected for its proximity to large coal deposits, the Vaal River, and the Witwatersrand

Briareus

In Greek mythology, one of three 100-armed, 50-headed Hecatoncheires (from the Greek words for �hundred� and �hands�), the sons of the deities Uranus and Gaea. The gods called him Briareus; mortals called him Aegaeon. According to one legend, Briareus and his brothers successfully aided Zeus, the king of the gods, against the attack by the Titans. Another account made Briareus an opponent

John Of Ephesus,

A Syrian monk, he became a deacon at Amida in 529, but because of the Byzantine persecution of the Monophysites he was forced to lead a nomadic life. Later, at the Eastern imperial court of Constantinople, John was

Las Palmas

Founded in 1478 at the mouth of a ravine, it was named for the abundant palms there. The city was the headquarters for the Spanish conquest of Tenerife and La Palma islands and

Japan Series

Japanese �Nihon Shirizu �or �Nippon Shirizu� in baseball, a seven-game playoff between champions of the two professional Japanese baseball leagues, the Central League and the Pacific League. Baseball in Japan was established on a professional basis in 1934, and by 1936 seven professional teams had been organized. A system of two leagues composed of six teams each was instituted in 1950. Each 135-game season culminates in the

Cadalso Y V�zquez, Jos� De

Cadalso also spelled �Cadahlso � Spanish writer famous for his Cartas marruecas (1793; �Moroccan Letters�), in which a Moorish traveler in Spain makes penetrating criticisms of Spanish life. Educated in Madrid, Cadalso traveled widely and, although he hated war, enlisted in the army against the Portuguese during the Seven Years' War. His prose satire Los eruditos a la

Einstein, Albert

German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity and won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. In the first 15 years of the 20th century, Einstein - recognized in his own time as one of the most creative intellects in human

Wright, Frank Lloyd

Original name �Frank Lincoln Wright � architect and writer, the most abundantly creative genius of American architecture. His �Prairie style� became the basis of 20th-century residential design in the United States.

Aerospace Industry, Internationalization

In the 1960s the high development cost of wide-body jets started a trend toward international risk sharing and cost sharing in aircraft development. American firms sought foreign partners because international cooperation was not subject to antitrust regulations and provided an excellent entry into overseas markets. This kind of partnership proved particularly

Aerospace Industry, Internationalization

In the 1960s the high development cost of wide-body jets started a trend toward international risk sharing and cost sharing in aircraft development. American firms sought foreign partners because international cooperation was not subject to antitrust regulations and provided an excellent entry into overseas markets. This kind of partnership proved particularly

Consid�rant, Victor-prosper

Educated at the �cole Polytechnique in Paris, Consid�rant entered the French army as an engineer and rose to the rank of captain. He resigned his commission in 1831 to devote