Radioactive Fallout

The deposition of radioactive materials on the Earth from the atmosphere. See fallout.

Burckhardt, Jacob (christopher)

Jacob Christopher also spelled  Jakob Christoph   one of the first great historians of art and culture, whose Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien (1860; The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, 1878, reprinted 1945) became a model for the treatment of cultural history in general.

Mountain

Detailed introductions to the European Alps are E.R. Oxburgh, The Geology of the Eastern Alps (1968), concentrating on Austria; and R. Trümpy, An Outline of the Geology of Switzerland, vol. 1 of Geology of Switzerland: A Guide-Book, ed. by the Schweizerische Geologische Kommission (1980). Introductory articles on other mountain belts of the world are found in Scientific American, including the following: Don L. Anderson, “The San Andreas Fault,” 225(5):52–68 (November 1971); Peter Molnar and Paul Tapponnier, “The Collision Between India and Eurasia,” 236(4):30–41 (April 1977), describing the evolution of mountain belts in eastern Asia; and David L. Jones et al., “The Growth of Western North America,” 247(5):70–84 (November 1982), describing the accretion of exotic terrains to that area. Two useful articles in Geological Society of America Bulletin are Tanya Atwater, “Implications of Plate Tectonics for the Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution of Western North America,” 81(12):3513–35 (December 1970), a classic article that changed the way geologists view that region; and John F. Deway et al., “Plate Tectonics and the Evolution of the Alpine System,” 84(10)3137–80 (October 1973), a summary of motions of lithospheric plates and mountain building in the Mediterranean area. See also Peter Molnar, “The Geologic History and Structure of the Himalaya,” American Scientist, 74(2):144–154 (March-April 1986), describing how the structure of the Himalayas allows the chain to achieve its great height.

Aphrodite

Ancient Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty, identified by the Romans with Venus (q.v.). Because the Greek word aphros means “foam,” the legend arose that Aphrodite was born from the white foam produced by the severed genitals of Uranus (Heaven), after his son Cronus threw them into the sea. Aphrodite was, in fact, widely worshiped as a goddess of the sea and of seafaring; she

Jainism, Recent Jain history

By the middle of the 19th century, image-worshiping Shvetambara monks had virtually disappeared, and control of temples and ritual passed into the hands of quasi-monastic clerics known as yati. Monastic life, however, experienced a revival under the auspices of charismatic monks such as Atmaramji (1837–96), and the number of Shvetambara image-worshiping renunciants grew

Felltham, Owen

Felltham wrote the first edition of Resolves (1623), which contained 100 essays, when he was 18. The second edition, Resolves, a Second Centurie, published in 1628, contained

Spanish Treasure Fleet

Beginning in the 1560s, shipping between Spain and the Americas was organized on a regular basis. Two fleets of between 30 and 90 vessels sailed from Seville to

Auditorium

The part of a public building where an audience sits, as distinct from the stage, the area on which the performance or other object of the audience's attention is presented. In a large theatre an auditorium includes a number of floor levels frequently designed as stalls, private boxes, dress circle, balcony or upper circle, and gallery. A sloping floor allows the seats

Avoirdupois Weight

Traditional system of weight in the British Imperial System and the United States Customary System of weights and measures. The name derives ultimately from French avoir de pois (“goods of weight” or “property”). The avoirdupois pound contains 7,000 grains, or 256 drams of 27.344 grains each, or 16 ounces of 437 1/2 grains each. It is used for all products not subject to apothecaries' weight (for pharmaceutical

Janequin, Clément

He worked in Bordeaux in the service of Lancelot du Fau, who became bishop of Luçon, and later for the bishop of Bordeaux. He entered the priesthood and in 1525 became canon of St. Emilion.

Priene

By the 8th century BC Priene was a member of the Ionian League, whose central shrine, the Panionion, lay within the city's territory. Priene

Sino-japanese War

(1937–45), conflict that broke out when China began full-scale resistance to the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory (begun in 1931). In an effort to unseat the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, the Japanese occupied large areas of eastern China in 1937–38. A stalemate then ensued, and Japanese forces were diverted to Southeast Asia and to the Pacific War against the