Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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gold-exchange standard ... Golding, Sir William

gold-exchange standard: monetary system under which a nation's currency may be converted into bills of exchange drawn on a country whose currency is convertible into gold at a stable rate of exchange. A nation on the gold-exchange standard is thus able to ...
Goldbach, Christian: Russian mathematician whose contributions to number theory include Goldbach's conjecture.
Goldbarth, Albert: American poet whose erudition and wit found expression in compulsively wordy but dazzling compositions.
Goldberg, Arthur J.: labour lawyer who served as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1962-65) and U.S. representative to the United Nations (1965-68).
Goldberg, Rube: American cartoonist who satirized the American preoccupation with technology. His name became synonymous with any simple process made outlandishly complicated.
Goldberg, Whoopi: American comedian, actress, and producer who is known for her work in theatre, film, television, and recordings. An accomplished performer with a wide repertoire, her work ranges from dramatic leading roles to controversial comedic performances.
goldcrest: European species of kinglet (q.v.).
Golden: city, seat (1861) of Jefferson county, north-central Colorado, U.S. It lies on Clear Creek at the foot of Lookout Mountain at an elevation of 5,675 feet (1,730 metres), just west of Denver and separated from the metropolitan area by the ...
Golden Age: in Latin literature, the period, from approximately 70 BC to AD 18, during which the Latin language was brought to perfection as a literary medium and many Latin classical masterpieces were composed. The Golden Age can be subdivided into two ...
Golden Age: the period of Spanish literature extending from the early 16th century to the late 17th century, generally considered the high point in Spain's literary history. The Golden Age began with the partial political unification of Spain about 1500. Its literature ...
golden algae: members of the division Chrysophyta (about 300 species) found in both marine and fresh waters. Diverse in form, although most are primitive single-celled flagellates, they are characterized by the pigment fucoxanthin and oil droplets as the food-reserve. Sexual reproduction is ...
Golden Bull of 1222: charter granted by King Andrew II of Hungary, which stated the basic rights and privileges of the Hungarian nobility and clergymen and the limits of the monarch's powers. The Hungarian nobles, aroused by Andrew's excesses and extravagances, forced him to ...
Golden Bull of Emperor Charles IV: constitution for the Holy Roman Empire promulgated in 1356 by the emperor Charles IV. It was intended to eliminate papal interference in German political affairs and to recognize the importance of the princes, especially the electors, of the empire. Its ...
golden calf: idol worshipped by the Hebrews during the period of the Exodus from Egypt in the 13th century BC and during the age of Jeroboam I, king of Israel, in the 10th century BC. Mentioned in Exodus 32 and I Kings ...
golden cat: either of two cats of the family Felidae: the African golden cat (Felis aurata), or the Asian golden cat (F. temmincki), also known as Temminck's cat.
golden chain: any of several small trees of the genus Laburnum, of the pea family (Fabaceae), especially L. anagyroides. This species, which is native to southern Europe, is also cultivated in other regions as an ornamental. It grows to approximately 6 m ...
golden cup: ornamental perennial plant of the poppy family (Papaveraceae) native to southwestern North America. It has large, four-petaled, sulfur-yellow flowers about 5 to 7.5 cm (2 to 3 inches) wide, with a central puff of orange stamens (male reproductive structures). Golden ...
golden eagle: (Aquila chrysaetos), dark brown eagle of the family Accipitridae, characterized by golden lanceolate nape feathers (hackles), dark eyes, yellow cere, gray beak, fully feathered legs, large yellow feet, and great talons. Its wingspread reaches 2.3 m (almost 8 feet). It ...
Golden Fleece, The Order of the: order of knighthood founded in Burgundy in 1430 and associated later especially with Habsburg Austria and with Spain.
Golden Gate: strait, in California, western coastal U.S., connecting San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean and separating San Francisco from Marin County. An ancient river mouth, it is about 3 miles (5 km) long, from 1 to 3 miles wide, and ...
Golden Gate Bridge: suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, in California, U.S. From its completion in 1937 to the completion of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City in 1964, it had the longest main span in the world, and it remains incomparable ...
Golden Gate Highlands National Park: national park in southeastern Free State province, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. Established in 1963, it has an area of 18.5 square miles (48 square km) in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains. Noted for its red and golden ...
Golden Gloves: amateur boxing competition initiated by Arch Ward, sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. First sponsored by the Tribune in 1926, annual tournaments were held between Chicago and New York teams from 1927. The New ...
golden hamster: a species of hamster commonly kept as a pet. Like other hamsters, it has a stout body with short, stocky legs and short, wide feet with small, sharp claws. The head has small, furry ears and huge internal cheek pouches ...
Golden Horde: Russian designation for the Ulus Juchi, the western part of the Mongol Empire, which flourished from the mid-13th century to the end of the 14th century. The people of the Golden Horde were a mixture of Turks and Mongols, with ...
Golden House of Nero: palace in ancient Rome that was constructed by the emperor Nero between AD 65 and 68, after the great fire (an occasion the emperor used to expropriate an area of more than 200 acres [81 hectares] of land in the ...
golden larch: (Pseudolarix amabilis), coniferous tree of the family Pinaceae, native to China. A golden larch resembles a tree of the true larch genus (Larix) but has small cones that fall apart when mature and club-shaped, short branchlets, or shoots, that are ...
golden mole: any of 18 species of blind and tailless burrowing insectivores that live in sub-Saharan Africa. They are sufficiently different from other moles and insectivores to constitute their own mammalian order. Golden moles have a cylindrical body, short limbs, and no ...
golden number: in chronology, the position of a solar, or calendar, year within the 19-year Metonic cycle (q.v.) after which the phases of the Moon recur on the same dates. The sequence of golden numbers, used in fixing the date of Easter, ...
golden ratio: in mathematics, the irrational number (1 + 5)/2, often denoted by the Greek letters tau or phi, and approximately equal to 1.618. The origin of this number and its name may be traced back to about 500 BC and ...
golden rose: ornament of wrought gold set with gems, generally sapphires, that is blessed by the pope on the fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday) and sent, as one of the highest honours he can confer, to some distinguished individual, ecclesiastical body, ...
Golden Rule: precept in the Gospel of Matthew (7:12): "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. . . ." This rule of conduct is a summary of the Christian's duty to his neighbour and states a ...
Golden Spike National Historic Site: national historic site at Promontory in Box Elder County, northern Utah, U.S., near the Great Salt Lake, commemorating the completion in 6 12 years of the first transcontinental railroad (1,800 mi [2,900 km] of hand-built track) in the country. A ...
Golden Spurs, Battle of the: (July 11, 1302), military engagement on the outskirts of Kortrijk in Flanders (now in Belgium) in which an untrained Flemish infantry militia, consisting mainly of members of the craft guilds (notably that of the weavers) defeated a professional force of ...
Golden Thirteen: group of African Americans who in 1944 became the first group of black servicemen to complete officer training for the United States Navy. In 1977 members of the group organized the first of several reunions, some of which were highly ...
golden whistler: songbird, a species of thickhead (q.v.).
goldeneye: either of two species of small, yellow-eyed diving ducks (family Anatidae), which produce a characteristic whistling sound with their rapidly beating wings. The common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere; the major breeding areas of Barrow's goldeneye (B. ...
goldenrain tree: flowering tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), native to East Asia and widely cultivated in temperate regions for its handsome foliage and curious bladderlike seedpods.
goldenrod: any of about 100 species of weedy, usually perennial herbs that comprise the genus Solidago of the family Asteraceae. Most of them are native to North America, though a few species grow in Europe and Asia. They have toothed leaves ...
goldenseal: (species Hydrastis canadensis), perennial herb native to woods of the eastern United States. Its rootstocks have medicinal properties. The plant has a single greenish white flower, the sepals of which fall as they open, followed by a cluster of small ...
goldentop: (species Lamarckia aurea), ornamental annual grass of the family Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region and cultivated in gardens for its golden, tufted flower clusters. It grows as a weed in cultivated and disturbed areas of Europe and North America.
Goldenweiser, Alexander: American anthropologist whose analyses of cultural questions ranged widely, encompassing intellectual movements in psychology and psychoanalysis. In particular, he suggested that cultural diffusion is not a mechanical process but, rather, depends in part on the receptiveness of cultures to proffered ...
goldeye: North American freshwater fish, a species of mooneye (q.v.).
Goldfaden, Abraham: Hebrew and Yiddish poet and playwright and originator of Yiddish theatre and opera.
Goldfield: mining ghost town, seat (1907) of Esmeralda county, southwestern Nevada, U.S., in desert country south of Tonopah. It was the site of a gold rush that began in 1902 and lasted until 1918. In 1910 the production of ore reached ...
goldfinch: any of several species of the genus Carduelis (some formerly in Spinus) of the songbird family Carduelidae (sometimes placed in the Ploceidae); they have short, notched tails and much yellow in the plumage. All have rather delicate sharp-pointed bills for ...
goldfish: (Carassius auratus), ornamental aquarium and pond fish of the carp family (Cyprinidae) native to East Asia but introduced into many other areas. The goldfish resembles the carp (Cyprinus carpio) but differs from its relative in having no mouth barbels. It ...
Goldhaber, Maurice: U.S. physicist whose contributions to nuclear physics include the discovery that the nucleus of the deuterium atom consists of a proton and a neutron.
Goldie, Sir George: British colonial administrator, organizer of a chartered company (1886) that established British rule on the Niger River, who was chiefly responsible for the development of northern Nigeria into an orderly and prosperous British protectorate and later a major region of ...
Golding, Louis: English novelist and essayist, an interpreter of British Jewish life.
Golding, Sir William: English novelist who in 1983 won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his parables of the human condition. He attracted a cult of followers, especially among the youth of the post-World War II generation.