Music, Music and world view

Again, music proves its protean susceptibilities in the service of disparate world views. Among humanist psychologists (such as the Americans Gordon Allport and Abraham Maslow) music may be one among other means toward self-fulfillment, integration, self-actualization; for aesthetic Existentialists (such as the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre) it is yet another

Salat

Also spelled �Salah, �Arabic �Salat, � the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam). There is disagreement among Islamic scholars as to whether some passages about prayer in the Muslim sacred scripture, the Qur'an, are actually references to the salat. Within Muhammad's lifetime five ritual prayers, each preceded by ablution, were observed: salat al-fajr (dawn),

Urticales

Nettle order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, the largest order in the subclass Hamamelidae. The order includes a diversity of plant types that range from small herbaceous species to large trees. Among the members are stinging nettles; mulberry, fig, and elm trees; hop vines; and the hemp, or marijuana, plant.

Grub Street

The world of literary hacks, or mediocre, needy writers who write for hire. The term originated in the 18th century. According to Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary, Grub Street was �originally the name of a street in Moorfields in London, much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems; whence any mean production is called grubstreet.� The street

Integument

Among unicellular organisms, such as bacteria and protozoans,

Mughal Dynasty

Also spelled �Mogul�, Arabic �Mongol� Muslim dynasty that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The Mughal dynasty was notable for about two centuries of effective rule over much of India, for the ability of its rulers, who through seven generations maintained a record of unusual talent, and for its administrative organization. A further distinction was the attempt of the

Afghan Carpet

Stout, long-wearing floor covering handwoven by the Afghan tribe of Turkmens of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Afghan carpets are generally all wool or goat hair and are made with the Senna (Sehna) knot. Usually in dull reds, these carpets show less white than the products of other Turkmens. Their gul, or basic tribal motif, is a large, parti-coloured, scalloped octagon

Hui-kuan

The hui-kuan were originated at Peking by the provincial guild of the southern Chinese province of Kwangtung.

Chra�bi, Driss

Chra�bi was educated first in a Qur'anic school and then in a French school in Casablanca. In 1946 he went to Paris to study chemical engineering, receiving a degree in 1950, after which he did graduate work in neuropsychiatry, only to abandon science just before receiving a

Metacarpal

Any of several tubular bones between the wrist (carpal) bones and each of the forelimb digits in land vertebrates, corresponding to the metatarsal bones of the foot. Originally numbering five, metacarpals in many mammals have undergone much change and reduction during evolution. The lower leg of the horse, for example, includes only one strengthened metacarpal;

Nizhnekamsk

City, Tatarstan, western Russia. It lies along the left bank of the Kama River, just southwest of Naberezhnye Chelny. It is an important petrochemical centre. Its synthetic-rubber plant, intended to become one of the world's largest, began operation in 1970. It also has a large tire plant and produces plastics. An oil refinery began operation there in 1979. Pop. (1995 est.) 209,500.

Xipe Totec

As a symbol of the new vegetation, Xipe Totec wore the skin of a human victim - the �new skin� that covered the Earth in the spring. His statues and stone masks always show him wearing a freshly flayed skin. Described

Respiration

The process by which animal organisms take up oxygen and discharge carbon dioxide in order to satisfy their energy requirements. In the living organism, energy is liberated, along with carbon dioxide, through the oxidation of molecules containing carbon. The term respiration also denotes the exchange of the respiratory gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) between

Uji

Any of the hereditary lineage groups that, until their official abolition in AD 604, formed the basic, decentralized ruling structure of early Japan. They are often referred to as the great clans because of their traditions of common descent, and they were ruled by an uji chief who was considered a direct descendant of the deity (ujigami) worshiped by the group's members. The

Na-den� Languages

Major grouping (phylum or superstock) of North American Indian languages, consisting of three language families - Athabascan (or Athapascan), Haida, and Tlingit - with a total of 22 languages. Of these languages 20 belong to the Athabascan family; they are spoken in the Northwest Territory, the Yukon, and adjacent parts of Canada, west to Cook Inlet in Alaska; in two isolated areas

Fable, Parable, And Allegory, Japan

In Japan the Koji-ki (712; �Records of Ancient Matters�) and the Nihon-shoki (8th century; �Chronicles of Japan�), both of them official histories of Japan, were studded with fables, many of them on the theme of a small intelligent animal getting the better of a large stupid one. The same is true of the fudoki (local gazetteers dating from 713 and later). The form reached its height in the Kamakura

Sexton, Anne

Anne Harvey attended Garland Junior College for a year before her marriage in 1948 to Alfred M. Sexton II. She studied with the poet Robert Lowell at Boston University and also worked as a model and a librarian. Although she had written some

Lord Chief Justice

In England and Wales, the head of the Queen's (or King's) Bench Division of the High Court of Justice and next in rank to the lord chancellor. Appointed by the crown on the nomination of the prime minister, he usually presides over the Court of Criminal Appeal and is an ex officio member of the Court of Appeal. He is invariably raised to the peerage on appointment and so is able

Borman, Frank

Borman graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1950, was commissioned in the Air

Strategic Weapons System

Any weapons system designed to strike an enemy at the source of his military, economic, or political power. In practice, this means destroying a nation's cities, factories, military bases, transportation and communications infrastructure, and seat of government. Strategic weapons systems use atomic or thermonuclear devices, because only these weapons have sufficient

Meletios Pegas

A monastic superior at Candia, Meletios studied at Padua and Venice, from which he was sent into exile. Soon after 1575 he entered

Arrest

Placing of a person in custody or under restraint, usually for the purpose of compelling obedience to the law. If the arrest occurs in the course of criminal procedure, the purpose of the restraint is to hold the person for answer to a criminal charge or to prevent him from committing an offense. In civil proceedings, the purpose is to hold the person to a demand made against

Great Barrier Reef

Biblical Literature, The Samaritan Pentateuch

The importance of the recension known as the Samaritan Pentateuch lies in the fact that it constitutes an independent Hebrew witness to the text written in a late and developed form of the paleo-Hebrew script. Some of the Exodus fragments from Qumran demonstrate that it has close affinities with a pre-Christian Palestinian text type and testify to the faithfulness

Alba, Fernando �lvarez De Toledo Y Pimentel, 3er Duque De

Alba was born into a rich family