1490 résultats pour "most"

• New Jersey - USA History.

  C Soils Broadly defined, all of New Jersey’s soils are podzolic soils; that is, they are acidic and contain fairly high amounts of iron oxides. The soils in northern New Jersey areirregular in quality and contain rock fragments and small stones deposited by the continental glaciers of the last Ice Age. The soils of the inner coastal plain, unaffectedby glaciation, are the richest in the state, while those of the outer coastal plain are generally infertile. The newer soil classification system d...

• Chile - country.

  D Plant and Animal Life The indigenous plant life of Chile varies according to climatic zone. Plant life in the northern region includes brambles and cactus and has little variety. Here, theAtacama provides one of the best examples on Earth of an absolute desert. The more humid Central Valley supports several species of cacti, espino (a thorny shrub),grasses, and the Chilean pine, which bears edible nuts. Dense rain forests are located south of Valdivia with laurel, magnolia, false beech, and v...

• Peter the Great I INTRODUCTION Peter the Great or Peter I (1672-1725), tsar and, later, emperor of Russia (1682-1725), who is linked with the Westernization of Russia and its rise as a great power.

  V LATER REIGN Before long, however, these and other reform measures had to cede center stage to the prosecution of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Sweden. Peter’sjourney west did not result in a great alliance against the Ottomans, but it led to one against Sweden. Russia fought together with Denmark and the union of Polandand Saxony against Sweden to win the Baltic coastline, the 'window into Europe,' and to break Swedish dominance over the northern part of the continent. At the tim...

• Peter the Great.

  V LATER REIGN Before long, however, these and other reform measures had to cede center stage to the prosecution of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) against Sweden. Peter’sjourney west did not result in a great alliance against the Ottomans, but it led to one against Sweden. Russia fought together with Denmark and the union of Polandand Saxony against Sweden to win the Baltic coastline, the 'window into Europe,' and to break Swedish dominance over the northern part of the continent. At the tim...

• Fascism.

  values as coming before a radical political transformation. Others argue that a radical political transformation will then be followed by a change in values. Fascists claimthat the nation has entered a dangerous age of mediocrity, weakness, and decline. They are convinced that through their timely action they can save the nation fromitself. Fascists may assert the need to take drastic action against a nation's 'inner' enemies. Fascists promise that with their help the national crisis will end an...

• Astronomy - astronomy.

  Telescopes may use either lenses or mirrors to gather visible light, permitting direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects. Those that use lenses arecalled refracting telescopes, since they use the property of refraction, or bending, of light ( see Optics: Reflection and Refraction ). The largest refracting telescope is the 40-in (1-m) telescope at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, founded in the late 19th century. Lenses bend different colors of light by d...

• Quantum Theory I INTRODUCTION Quantum Theory, in physics, description of the particles that make up matter and how they interact with each other and with energy.

  electron in the same way a particle with momentum would: It bumps the electron and changes the electron’s path. The light is also affected by the collision as though itwere a particle, in that its energy and momentum changes. Momentum is a quantity that can be defined for all particles. For light particles, or photons, momentum depends on the frequency, or color, of the photon, which in turndepends on the photon’s energy. The energy of a photon is equal to a constant number, called Planck’s cons...

• Human Nutrition.

  is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Nutritionists caution that most Americans need to eat more complex carbohydrates. In the typical American diet, only 40 to 50 percent of total calories come fromcarbohydrates—a lower percentage than found in most of the world. To make matters worse, half of the carbohydrate calories consumed by the typical American comefrom processed foods filled with simple sugars. Experts recommend that these foods make up no more that 10 percent of our diet, bec...

• Aztec Empire.

  tribute to the empire in agricultural products, which were used to finance public projects. All able-bodied men owed military service to the empire. Citizens could also bedrafted to work on public lands or build temples, dikes, aqueducts, and roads. Although Aztec society had strict classes, a person’s status could change based on his or her contribution to society. Commoners could improve their rank, especially byperforming well in battle, and become prosperous landowners. Young people of some...

• Aztec Empire - USA History.

  tribute to the empire in agricultural products, which were used to finance public projects. All able-bodied men owed military service to the empire. Citizens could also bedrafted to work on public lands or build temples, dikes, aqueducts, and roads. Although Aztec society had strict classes, a person’s status could change based on his or her contribution to society. Commoners could improve their rank, especially byperforming well in battle, and become prosperous landowners. Young people of some...

• Comet - astronomy.

  may exceed the planet Jupiter in size, however. Observations from telescopes on Earth and in space indicate that most of the gases in the coma and tail of a comet are fragmentary molecules, or radicals, of the mostcommon elements in space: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. The radicals, for example, of CH, NH, and OH may be broken away from the stable molecules CH 4 (methane), NH 3 (ammonia), and H 2O (water), which may exist as ices or more complex, very cold compounds in the nucleus. Al...

• Pennsylvania - geography.

  B Rivers and Lakes There are three major river basins in Pennsylvania: the Susquehanna, the Ohio, and the Delaware. Together they drain more than 90 percent of Pennsylvania’s landarea. Most of eastern and central Pennsylvania is drained by the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The western part of the state is drained by the Allegheny andMonongahela rivers, which join at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio. In addition to the three major river basins, short streams flowing into Lake Erie drain the north...

• Pennsylvania - USA History.

  B Rivers and Lakes There are three major river basins in Pennsylvania: the Susquehanna, the Ohio, and the Delaware. Together they drain more than 90 percent of Pennsylvania’s landarea. Most of eastern and central Pennsylvania is drained by the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The western part of the state is drained by the Allegheny andMonongahela rivers, which join at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio. In addition to the three major river basins, short streams flowing into Lake Erie drain the north...

• Montréal - geography.

  Place Jacques-Cartier, MontréalPlace Jacques-Cartier is named for the French explorer who was one of the first Europeans to venture into Canada in the 16thcentury. It is a popular spot in the city of Montréal, Québec’s largest city.R.E. Murowchick/Photo Researchers, Inc. French influence lasted for a time after the British conquest of 1760, as shown by some late 18th-century houses. British influence came to prevail, however, and most ofOld Montréal is in fact a Victorian Style city, probably th...

• Babe Ruth's "Called Shot".

  When Ruth, the second New York batter in the fifth inning, came to the plate, Wrigley Field was roaring. “They called me ‘big belly’ and ‘baboon,’” Ruth recalled,according to the book Great Moments in American Sports by Jerry Brondfield. The New York Times said of the Chicago fans, “It seems decidedly unhealthy for anyone to taunt the great man Ruth too much, and very soon the crowd was to learn its lesson.” During the at bat, Ruth mouthed off to the Chicago players in thedugout as they and...

• Earthquake.

  III CAUSES Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip because of movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called theelastic rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide past eachother, pressure builds up within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust increases slowly over hundreds of years and finally exceeds...

• Georgia (country) - country.

  1917. During the subsequent Soviet period, religious practice was strongly discouraged because the Soviet state was officially atheistic; however, the GeorgianOrthodox Church was allowed to function openly. Orthodox Christianity is the religion of about 58 percent of the Georgian population. Muslims represent about 19 percent of the country’s population, with ethnicAzerbaijanis, Kurds, and Ajars comprising the principal Muslim groups. Ajars are ethnic Georgians who converted to Islam in the 17th...

• Police.

  body. In larger agencies, executive officers may be selected through a civil service or merit system, after moving through the ranks from patrol officer to sergeant,lieutenant, captain, and (in still larger agencies) deputy or assistant chief. At the county level, the head of the agency usually holds the title sheriff. The sheriff is almost always elected and has the power to appoint deputies. Sheriffs'departments often provide law enforcement services for unincorporated areas of counties and ar...

• Federal Reserve System.

  and their powers were also expanded. For example, discount rates now had to be approved periodically by the board. Sales and purchases of governmentsecurities—the open-market operation that previously had been managed solely at the discretion of the presidents of the reserve banks—were centralized in the FederalOpen Market Committee (FOMC), consisting of the seven governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other reserve bank presidentsserving on a rotating basis....

• New York (city) - geography.

  Concourse are particularly prized, because the apartment buildings are well kept and the public parks are easily accessible. City Island retains the charm of a small fishingvillage. Parts of the Bronx, however, fell victim to decay and abandonment, especially between 1970 and 1980, when the population of the borough fell by 20 percent. The low pointoccurred in 1976, when future U.S. president Jimmy Carter compared the South Bronx to the bombed-out German city of Dresden after World War II (1939-...

• Paris (city, France) - geography.

  and its vibrant public square, frequented by street performers, soon became among the most popular landmarks in the city. West of the Pompidou Center is Les Halles, the site of the central market of Paris from the 12th century until 1969. The market was subsequently replaced by the Forum LesHalles, a multilevel underground complex featuring a shopping mall, museums, the Paris film library ( vidéothèque ), and a sports center. The street level of Les Halles features a garden, the Jardin des Halle...

• Tobacco - biology.

  quality cigars are made entirely by hand, most cigars are manufactured by machine. Chewing tobaccos are generally made from thick grades of leaves to which binders and flavorings are added. Chewing tobacco is formed by pressing the tobacco intoblocks known as plugs. Snuff is made by grinding tobacco into fine powder, which is then allowed to ferment for a long period of time. Frequently, snuff is scented withspices, such as jasmine or cloves. V TOBACCO INDUSTRY Over 6 million tons of commercial...

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

  including the sacred style of church music and the so-called galant (courtly) idiom. The elegant though often superficial galant style dominated much instrumental music of the 1760s and 1770s. Mozart’s mastery often demonstrates itself in an ability to expand and deepen the stylistic possibilities of the time. The manner in which heextended the character and form of the concerto, for instance, owes much to his experience in writing operatic arias. A Musical Expressiveness In the masterful Je...

• Moon - astronomy.

  B Volcanic Features Maria, domes, rilles, and a few craters display indisputable characteristics of volcanic origin. Maria are plains of dark-colored rock that cover approximately 40 percent ofthe Moon's visible hemisphere. The maria formed when molten rock erupted onto the surface and solidified between 3.16 billion and 3.96 billion years ago. This rockresembles terrestrial basalt, a volcanic rock type widely distributed on Earth, but the rock that formed the maria has a higher iron content an...

• Insect - biology.

  they almost always have six legs. In some insects, such as beetles, the legs are practically identical, but in other insects each pair is a slightly different shape. Still otherinsects have specialized leg structures. Examples are praying mantises, which have grasping and stabbing forelegs armed with lethal spines, and grasshoppers andfleas, which have large, muscular hind legs that catapult them into the air. Mole crickets’ front legs are modified for digging, and backswimmers have hind legs de...

• Natural Satellite - astronomy.

  Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, also has few impact craters. Although icy volcanism from water and ammonia may occur along with some tectonic activity, Titan’s youngsurface is most likely the result of weather processes. Titan’s dense, cold atmosphere precipitates particles of complex organic molecules that accumulate as dunes andmountains. Methane rain erodes the surface and creates lakes at the moon’s poles. Triton’s young surface also may result from processes in its atmosphere, as well aserupt...

• Black Death.

  disappeared in the West. V DISAPPEARANCE OF PLAGUE Plague became less common in Europe after the 1530s. The last plague in England was in 1665, the last in Western Europe in 1722. Numerous theories have beenoffered to explain the disappearance of plague. It has been argued that black rats, the primary carriers of plague, may have been replaced by larger brown rats that donot carry the infection. A second theory suggests that increased immunity among the rodents that carried the disease or chang...

• Black Death .

  disappeared in the West. V DISAPPEARANCE OF PLAGUE Plague became less common in Europe after the 1530s. The last plague in England was in 1665, the last in Western Europe in 1722. Numerous theories have beenoffered to explain the disappearance of plague. It has been argued that black rats, the primary carriers of plague, may have been replaced by larger brown rats that donot carry the infection. A second theory suggests that increased immunity among the rodents that carried the disease or chang...

• Invertebrate - biology.

  animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...

• Invertebrate - biology.

  animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...

• Sexually Transmitted Infections.

  D Genital Herpes Genital herpes is caused by infection with the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Most cases of genital herpes are due to HSV type 2. Some cases, however, result from genitalinfections with HSV type 1, a common cause of cold sores. Genital herpes causes recurrent outbreaks of painful sores on the genitals, although the disease oftenremains dormant with no symptoms for long periods. In the United States, one in five individuals over the age of 12 is infected with HSV type 2, and the va...

• Influenza.

  days and disappear in seven to ten days. However, coughing and fatigue may persist for two or more weeks. Death from influenza itself is rare. But influenza can aggravate underlying medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Invading influenza viruses produceinflammation in the lining of the respiratory tract, damage that increases the risk that secondary infections will develop. Common complications include bronchitis,sinusitis, and bacterial pneumonia, occurring most frequently in olde...

• Amphibian (animal) - biology.

  strong enough to kill potential predators. C Hearing, Vision, and Vocalizations Amphibians rely on their senses to find food and evade predators. Amphibians lack external ears but have well-developed internal ears. Hearing is most acute in frogs,which typically have a middle ear cavity for transferring sound vibrations from the eardrum, or tympanum, to the inner ear. Frogs and toads also use their keen hearingin communicating with one another. Using a true voice box, or larynx, and a large, exp...

• Boxing.

  C Offensive Techniques To be effective, boxers must have an assortment of punches that are coordinated with their footwork. Less powerful punches often serve the important role of settingup the fighter’s chief “weapons,” as boxing analysts sometimes call a boxer’s main offensive skills. C1 Feinting Moving the hands or head to confuse an opponent is called feinting. A smart boxer will first test the opponent by trying different feints, noting the reaction to each onebefore deciding which will b...

• Swimming.

  the swimmer and the pinky finger should enter the water first. At the same time, the swimmer moves the left arm through the water below the left side of the body.Once in the water, the right arm begins pulling the swimmer forward by bending at the elbow. At the same time the swimmer holds the left arm straight as it reachesthe hip and lifts it out of the water. As the right arm continues to pull, the swimmer rotates slightly onto the right side and swings the left arm up above the head. As the s...

• Laser.

  their atoms into laser light. Consequently, they are the most powerful continuous wave (CW) lasers—that is, lasers that emit light continuously rather than in pulses. C Liquid Lasers The most common liquid laser media are inorganic dyes contained in glass vessels. They are pumped by intense flash lamps in a pulse mode or by a separate gas laserin the continuous wave mode. Some dye lasers are tunable, meaning that the color of the laser light they emit can be adjusted with the help of a prism lo...

• Kuwait (country) - country.

  Oil revenues have allowed Kuwait to build an extensive educational system, yielding a literacy rate of 84 percent. Public school is free and compulsory from the age of 6to 13, and several private schools also teach this age group. Kuwait University (founded in 1966) is also free and offers programs in a wide range of professional andscientific fields at several campuses. Both the extensive library system at Kuwait University and the collection at Kuwait National Museum (1957) were heavily damage...

• Fossil Fuels.

  water molecules. This crystalline solid is known as gas hydrate. Because technology for the commercial extraction of gas hydrates has not yet been developed, this typeof fossil fuel is not included in most world energy resource estimates. However, in February 2007 the U.S. Department of Energy completed the drilling of a well toretrieve core samples of gas hydrates found in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska’s North Slope. By identifying the nature of these gas hydrates, the Energy Departmenthoped...

• Observatory - astronomy.

  Ultraviolet radiation, X rays, and gamma rays have shorter wavelengths than visible light has. These types of radiation tell astronomers about the hottest and mostviolent phenomena in the universe. Earth’s atmosphere blocks most of this radiation, so astronomers must send their observatories above the atmosphere aboardballoons, rockets, or satellites. Ultraviolet telescopes are much like visible light telescopes, but X-ray telescopes must have special nested cylindrical mirrors to prevent Xrays...

• Horse Racing.

  interested parties claim the same horse at the same price, lots are drawn to determine the winning offer. Knowledgeable owners and trainers may use claiming races toobtain, at bargain prices, horses whose former owners underestimated the potential of their animals. Two other types of contests are match races and walkovers. A match race pits only two horses, almost always that season’s most successful racers, in a head-to-headduel. A walkover occurs when only one horse has not been scratched (w...

• Bangladesh - country.

  F Environmental Issues Waterborne diseases such as cholera are a serious threat to public health in Bangladesh. Until the 1970s, many of Bangladesh’s people became sick from drinkingpolluted water drawn from surface rivers. Aid agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) built shallow wells throughout the country to help provide asafe source of drinking water to Bangladesh’s poor. In the 1990s, however, it was discovered that many of these wells were contaminated by arsenic, a...

• Switzerland - country.

  formation over higher elevations. The wind reverses direction about sundown and moves down the valley as a cool downdraft. The foehn, which occurs during the wintermonths, is a dry and relatively warm airflow that is drawn northward over the Alps. The foehn can quickly melt snow and ice, increasing the risk of mudslides andavalanches. D Natural Resources Waterpower is the chief natural resource of Switzerland. The principal source of water is runoff from the considerable annual precipitation th...

• Egyptian Art and Architecture - USA History.

  The kings of the 1st Dynasty (2920 BC-2770 BC) were buried in the cemetery of their ancestors at Abydos in southern Egypt. Their burial sites were built of mud brick (bricks baked in the sun) and consisted of two parts: a tomb in the desert where the king was buried, and a rectangular funerary enclosure at the desert's edge, whererituals were performed. A pair of stone slabs called stelae marked the tombs and bore the name of the royal occupant. In the 2nd Dynasty (2770 BC-2649 BC), most r...

• Mississippi - geography.

  The climate of Mississippi is characterized by long, hot, and humid summers and generally mild winters. The higher lands in the northeast are usually cooler than otherareas of the state. D1 Temperature Average January temperatures range from about 6° C (about 42° F) in northeastern Mississippi to about 12° C (about 54° F) along the Gulf Coast. No part of the stateis entirely free from freezing temperatures, but prolonged periods of extreme cold rarely occur. Temperatures more than 15° C (30° F)...

• Mississippi - USA History.

  The climate of Mississippi is characterized by long, hot, and humid summers and generally mild winters. The higher lands in the northeast are usually cooler than otherareas of the state. D1 Temperature Average January temperatures range from about 6° C (about 42° F) in northeastern Mississippi to about 12° C (about 54° F) along the Gulf Coast. No part of the stateis entirely free from freezing temperatures, but prolonged periods of extreme cold rarely occur. Temperatures more than 15° C (30° F)...

• American Literature: Poetry I INTRODUCTION Phyllis McGinley American poet and author Phyllis McGinley composed light, witty verse, much of which deals with family life.

  Taylor, a poet of great technical skill, wrote powerful meditative poems in which he tested himself morally and sought to identify and root out sinful tendencies. In“God's Determinations Touching His Elect” (written 1680?), one of Taylor’s most important works, he celebrates God's power in the triumph of good over evil in thehuman soul. All of Taylor’s poetry and much of Bradstreet’s served generally personal ends, and their audience often consisted of themselves and their family andclosest frie...

• Advertising.

  Advertising agencies make money in a variety of ways. When the agency uses the client’s advertising budget to buy time for an ad on the radio or on television or whenit buys space for an ad in a newspaper or magazine, the media outlet allows the agency to keep 15 percent of the cost of the space or the time as a commission. The15 percent commission has become an advertising industry standard and usually accounts for the largest portion of the agency’s income. Agencies also charge clientsfor the...

• Toys. I INTRODUCTION Toys, objects that serve as playthings for children. Although the

  clay. These readily available elements were also used to make more elaborate toys as human society advanced. Archaeologists have found primitive, handmade toys such as wooden or cloth dolls, clay marbles, and terracotta figures that date back thousands of years. In ancientEgypt, Greece, and Rome, people placed dolls or clay figures in the graves or tombs of children for them to play with in the afterlife. The yo-yo may seem like a 20th-century fad, but it actually dates back at least 2,500 years...

• Capital Punishment.

  deterrent effect. Capital punishment advocates note that because the death penalty is reserved for the most aggravated murders, the deterrent effect of capitalpunishment on such crimes may not be apparent in data on homicide rates in general. Supporters also urge that the conflicting results of various studies indicate thatthe deterrent effect of the death penalty cannot not be proven or disproven with any certainty. They maintain that in the absence of conclusive proof that the threat ofexecuti...

• Ohio - geography.

  conflict with modified Gulf air and causing frontal or cyclonic storms. Gulf air is dominant in summer. In fall, polar air passing over Lake Erie is modified, delaying thekilling frost along the adjacent shoreline. C1 Temperatures The mean annual temperatures for the state range from 9° C (48° F) in the northeast to 13° C (55° F) in the south. Average January temperatures range from -4° C(24° F) in the west to 2° C (35° F) in the south. July averages are 24° C (76° F) in the south and 23° C (73...