Genesis

Hebrew �Bereshit� (�In the Beginning�), the first book of the Old Testament. Its name derives from the opening words: �In the beginning . . . .� Genesis narrates the primeval history of the world (chapters 1 - 11) and the patriarchal history of the Israelite people (chapters 12 - 50). The primeval history includes the familiar stories of the Creation, the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, and the Tower

Genesis

International organization established by one of the Treaties of Rome in 1958 to form a common market for the development of the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The original members were Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. It subsequently has come to include all members of the European Union. Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom joined

Tachism

French �Tachisme� (from tache, �spot�), style of painting practiced in Paris after World War II and through the 1950s that, like its American equivalent, Action painting, featured the intuitive, spontaneous gesture of the artist's brushstroke. Developed by the young painters Hans Hartung, G�rard Schneider, Pierre Soulages, Frans Wols, Chao Wu-chi (Zao Wu-ki), and Georges Mathieu, Tachism was part

Wagner, Honus

The �Flying Dutchman� played for the Louisville Colonels

Sankin Kotai

System inaugurated in 1635 in Japan by the Tokugawa shogun (hereditary military dictator) Iemitsu by which the great feudal lords (daimyo) had to reside several months each year in the Tokugawa capital at Edo (modern Tokyo). When the lords returned to their fiefs, they were required to leave their wives and families in Edo. The system, which was imitated by the various daimyo

Mananjary

Town, eastern Madagascar. It lies at the mouth of the Mananjary River. A port on the Indian Ocean and the Pangalanes Canal, it handles coastal shipments of coffee, vanilla, cacao, olives, and rice. It is at the end of a highway from Fianarantsoa (85 miles [137 km] northwest). Pop. (1978 est.) 15,200.

Hypothermia

Abnormally low body temperature in a warm-blooded creature, associated with a general slowing of physiologic activity. Hibernating animals allow their body temperatures to fall to levels only slightly above ambient temperature, in a unique kind of hypothermia from which they can recover rapidly when necessary; similar temperatures would be fatal to

China, The dynastic succession

The Ming dynasty, which encompassed the reigns of 16 emperors, proved to be one of the stablest and longest dynasties of Chinese history. Rulers of Korea, Mongolia, East Turkistan, Burma, Siam, and Nam Viet regularly acknowledged Ming overlordship, and at times tribute was received from as far away as Japan, Java and Sumatra, Ceylon and South India, the East African coast,

Cyrus I

Achaemenian king, the son of Teispes and grandfather of Cyrus II the Great; he had control over Anshan (northeast of Susa in Elam) and possibly also over Parsumash to the east during the second half of the 7th century. Although he sent aid to Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon (651), who was in revolt against Assyria, Cyrus was forced to accept Assyrian overlordship about

Brackley, Thomas Egerton, Viscount, Baron Ellesmere

Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1572, Egerton was promoted rapidly under Queen Elizabeth I, becoming lord keeper of the great seal in

Argentina, Per�n's second presidency

Per�n was elected president with his third wife, Mar�a Estela Mart�nez de Per�n (Isabel Per�n), as vice president. Taking office in October 1973, he continued the campaign against the left, and in May 1974 the victims of the purge acknowledged the break with their former leader and passed into (still legal) opposition. Montonero activity increased, and the Triple A, suspected by

Wierzynski, Kazimierz

Wierzynski moved to Warsaw after the restoration of Poland's independence at the close of World War I and became one of the foremost members of Skamander. His poetical debut was Wiosna i wino (1919; �Spring and Wine�), followed by Wr�ble na

Nordau, Max

In 1880, after serving as Viennese correspondent for a Budapest newspaper and traveling extensively in Europe, Nordau settled permanently in Paris,

Ilesha

Town, Osun state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies in the Yoruba Hills and at the intersection of roads from Ile-Ife, Oshogbo, and Akure. The town is one of the oldest settlements in Yorubaland - according to tradition, it was founded by an owa (�king�) who was one of the 16 sons of the deity Oduduwa. Ilesha was an important military centre in the campaigns against Ibadan, 60 miles (97 km) west-southwest,

Gauss

Unit of magnetic induction in the centimetre-gram-second system of physical units. One gauss corresponds to the magnetic flux density that will induce an electromotive force of one abvolt (10-8 volt) in each linear centimetre of a wire moving laterally at one centimetre per second at right angles to a magnetic flux. One gauss corresponds to 10-4 tesla (T), the International

India, Wars and rivalries

Harihara II's death in 1404 was followed by a violent succession dispute among his three surviving sons. Only after two of them had been crowned and dethroned was the third, Devaraya I (reigned 1406 - 22), able to emerge victorious. Continuing instability, however, coupled with the involvement of Vijayanagar and the Bahmani sultanate as backers of different claimants to the throne

Koch

Also called �Rajbansi, � ethnic group of the Bodo people, dispersed over parts of Assam and Bengal. While their original language is a Tibeto-Burman dialect, large sections of the group in the 20th century spoke Bengali or other Indo-Aryan languages. In the 16th century a Koch chief established the state of Cooch Behar, and they now call themselves Rajbansi (Of Royal Blood), resent being called by the

Soga, Tiyo

Xhosa journalist, minister, translator, composer of hymns, and collector of black South African fables, legends, proverbs, history, praises, and customs. His translation of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (U-Hambo lom-Hambi, 1866) had almost as great an influence upon the Xhosa

Ikorodu

Town, Lagos state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies near the Lagos Lagoon, on the Bight of Benin, 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Lagos. A traditional settlement of the Awori people (a subgroup of the Yoruba), it became important in the mid-19th century as a trading post of the Remo (Ijebu-Remo) kingdom on the trade route from Lagos to Ibadan. During the Ibadan-Ijaiye wars (1860 - 65), the Ikorodu traders,

Terman, Lewis M(adison)

Terman joined the faculty of Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. (1910), where he became professor of education in 1916, the year he published The Measurement of Intelligence, a guide for his Stanford revision and

Giresun

Also spelled �Keresun, � city and seaport, northeastern Turkey. It lies along the Black Sea about 110 miles (175 km) west of Trabzon. The older parts of the city lie on a peninsula crowned by a ruined Byzantine fortress, sheltering the small natural harbour. Nearby is Giresun Island, in ancient times called Ares. Giresun was known to the ancient Greeks as Choerades or Pharnacia and to the Romans as Kerasous

Olmi, Ermanno

Olmi attended a science high school and took courses in acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Milan. He learned filmmaking while employed at Edisonvolta, a major Milanese electric

French Confederation Of Christian Workers

French� Conf�d�ration Fran�aise des Travailleurs Chr�tiens (CFTC),� French labour-union federation that was founded in 1919 by Roman Catholic workers who opposed both the syndicalist and communist movements of the day. The confederation, based on Catholic social and anti-Marxist principles, rejected the theory of class warfare but occasionally collaborated on strikes with the leftist General Confederation of Labour (Conf�d�ration

India, Regional states, c. 1700 - 1850

The states that arose in India during the phase of Mughal decline and the following century (roughly 1700 to 1850) varied greatly in terms of resources, longevity, and essential character. Some of them - such as Avadh (Ayodhya) in the north or Hyderabad in the south - were located in areas that had harboured regional states in the immediate pre-Mughal period and thus could hark back

Axminster Carpet

Floor covering made originally in a factory founded at Axminster, Devon, Eng., in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty. Resembling somewhat the Savonnerie carpets produced in France, Axminster carpets were Ghiordes knotted in wool on woolen warps and had a weft of flax or hemp. Like the French carpets, they featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns. Similar

Madison, Helene

Madison grew up in Seattle and began winning regional high school swimming championships at the age of 15. In 1930, in her first year of senior competition, she

Maupeou, Ren�-nicolas-charles-augustin De

Chancellor of France who succeeded in temporarily (1771 - 74) depriving the Parlements (high courts of justice) of the political powers that had enabled them to block the reforms proposed by the ministers of King Louis XV. By rescinding Maupeou's measures, King Louis XVI (reigned 1774 - 92) lost his opportunity to institute fundamental reforms that might

Arts, Central Asian, Folk music

Generally characterized by a scarcity of musicians and musical instruments, folk music of this region is predominantly a matter of solo playing and singing, small ensembles, and a complete lack of musical notation or codified musical theory. In their general types, the musical instruments are closely related to those of Persia and the Middle East, but specific

Eakins, Thomas

Painter who carried the tradition of 19th-century American Realism to perhaps its highest achievement. He painted mainly portraits of his friends and scenes of outdoor sports, such as swimming and boating (e.g., �Max Schmitt in a Single Scull,� 1871). Because of its frank and unsentimental nature, the work generally acknowledged as his masterpiece,

Strasbourg

Besides its traditional role as the chief city of Alsace, Strasbourg is also the seat of the Council of Europe, an episcopal see, a university town, and an international communications centre. The river port, which lies east of the