Russian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist who was one of the foremost advocates of the big-bang theory, according to which the universe was formed in a colossal explosion that took place billions of years ago. In addition, his work on ...
in music, the full range of pitches in a musical system; also, the compass of a particular instrument or voice. The word originated with the medieval monk Guido of Arezzo (d. 1050) to identify his system of solmization, i.e., of ...
town, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies along the St. Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Gananoque River. The town was founded by Charles McDonald, who built a mill there in 1812 and later laid out the townsite. Its name ...
member of an esoteric Hindu sect devoted to the worship of the elephant-headed Ganesa (also called Ganapati) as the supreme deity. The sect was at its height in about the 10th century and helped to establish Ganesa as an important ...
city, western Azerbaijan. It lies along the Ganca River. The town was founded sometime in the 5th or 6th century, about 4 miles (6.5 km) east of the modern city. That town was destroyed by earthquake in 1139 and rebuilt ...
people inhabiting the area north and northwest of Lake Victoria in south-central Uganda. They speak a Bantu language-called Ganda, or Luganda-of the Benue-Congo group. The Ganda are the most numerous people in Uganda and their territory the most productive and ...
river in central Nepal and northern India. It is formed by the union of the Kali and Trisuli rivers, which rise in the Great Himalaya Range in Nepal; from this junction to the Indian border the river is called the ...
town, northeastern Newfoundland, Canada. It lies just north of Gander Lake, 206 miles (332 km) northwest of St. John's. Gander has one of the largest international airports in North America. The site was selected as an air base in 1935 ...
historical region in what is now northwestern Pakistan, corresponding to the Vale of Peshawar and having extensions into the lower valleys of the Kabul and Swat rivers.
style of Buddhist visual art that developed in what is now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan between the 1st century BC and the 7th century AD. The style, of Greco-Roman origin, seems to have flourished largely during the Kushan dynasty ...
politician who served as prime minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966-77) and a fourth term (1980-84). She was assassinated by Sikh extremists.
leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule, considered to be the father of his country. He is internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress.
the leading general secretary of India's Congress (I) Party (from 1981) and prime minister of India (1984-89) after the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. He was himself assassinated in 1991.
city, capital of Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies on the banks of the Sabarmati River, north of the former capital of Ahmadabad. Built to supplant the former capital, the city was begun in 1966. The first state government offices ...
city, Valencia provincia, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Valencia, eastern Spain. It lies south of Valencia city at the mouth of the Serpis River. Once a Greek settlement, Gandia was occupied by the Moors in the 8th century ...
a group of persons, usually youths, who share a common identity and who generally engage in criminal behaviour. In contrast to the criminal behaviour of other youths, the activities of gangs are characterized by some level of organization and continuity ...
the most powerful members of a radical political elite convicted for implementing the harsh policies directed by Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution (q.v.) of the 1960s and early '70s. The group included Mao's third wife, Jiang ...
British rock group known for its Marxist politics and danceable fusion of rock and funk. The principal members were Jon King (b. June 8, 1955, London, Eng., ), Andy Gill (b. Jan. 1, 1956, Manchester, ), Hugo Burnham (b. March ...
either of two distinct but remotely related Indian dynasties. The Western Gangas ruled in Mysore state (Gangavadi) from about AD 250 to about 1004. The Eastern Gangas ruled Kalinga from 1028 to 1434-35.
town, extreme northern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. During the 1970s it grew rapidly as an agricultural distribution centre. The town has textile, sugar, and rice mills. A meteorological station and several colleges affiliated with the University of Rajasthan are located ...
great river of the plains of northern India. Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga, both in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its Anglicized name, the Ganges. From time immemorial it has ...
segment of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in western and southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northeastern India, with an area of about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square km). It lies between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, west of the Upper Ganges Plain. The ...
dense group of nerve-cell bodies present in most animals above the level of cnidarians. In flatworms (e.g., planaria) two lateral neuronal cords carry impulses to and from a pair of ganglia at the head of the animal. In more advanced ...
localized death of animal soft tissue, caused by prolonged interruption of the blood supply that may result from injury or infection. Diseases in which gangrene is prone to occur include arteriosclerosis, diabetes, Raynaud's disease, thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease), and typhus. ...
form of hip-hop music that became the genre's dominant style in the 1990s, a reflection and product of the often violent lifestyle of American inner cities afflicted with poverty and the dangers of drug use and drug dealing. The romanticization ...
town, capital of Sikkim state, northeastern India. It lies at an elevation of 5,600 feet (1,700 m). The town (the name of which means "top of the hill") rises over slopes extensively terraced in corn (maize). It was the governmental ...
English Handsome Lake Seneca Indian chief who developed a new religion for the Iroquois (see Handsome Lake cult). The cult was so successful that in the 20th century several thousand Indians still adhered to it.
Spanish essayist and novelist, considered a precursor of the Generation of '98 because of his concern for the spiritual regeneration of his country. Fluent in five languages, he served with the Spanish consular service in Antwerp, Helsinki, and Riga. An ...
any of three oceanic bird species within the family Sulidae (order Pelecaniformes). Closely related to the boobies and variously classified with them in the genus Sula or separated as Morus (or Moris), the gannets are the best known of the ...
one of the largest newspaper publishers in the United States, with interests in newspaper Web sites and television broadcasting as well. The company also publishes a number of newspapers and periodicals in the United Kingdom and Europe. It is headquartered ...
mountain in the Wind River Range and the highest point (13,804 feet [4,207 metres]) in Wyoming, U.S. Located 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Lander on the crest of the Continental Divide, it rises from ice fields within the Bridger-Teton ...
American publisher who established a major chain of daily newspapers in small and medium-sized U.S. cities. During his career Gannett bought many newspapers and often merged them, creating one paper from two or more.
American professional boxer, known as the Old Master, who was perhaps the greatest fighter in the history of the lightweight division. Because he was black, he was compelled by boxing promoters to permit less-talented white fighters to last the scheduled ...
largest of Jupiter's satellites and of all the satellites in the solar system. One of the Galilean moons, it was discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo in 1610. It was probably also discovered independently that same year by the German ...
in Greek legend, the son of Tros (or Laomedon), king of Troy. Because of his unusual beauty, he was carried off either by the gods or by Zeus, disguised as an eagle, or, according to a Cretan account, by Minos, ...
pianist, conductor, and composer, who introduced works by contemporary composers such as Bartok, Ravel, and Vincent d'Indy, and who revived little-played older works in the keyboard repertory.
town, eastern Mali, western Africa. It is situated on the Niger River at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, about 200 miles (320 km) east-southeast of Timbuktu. The population consists chiefly of Songhai people.
one of the early leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and one of the most important figures in the Communist government established after 1949. His purge in 1954-55 was the biggest scandal in the Chinese Communist movement from the mid-1930s ...
technically innovative Chinese landscape painter who used his hands-palms, fingers, nails-in place of the traditional Chinese brush. Gao was precocious and gifted and served in an official capacity during the Qing period. His larger paintings for the Manchu court were ...
Chinese emigre novelist, playwright, and critic who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity." He was also renowned as a stage director and as an artist.
the title accorded to the Jewish spiritual leaders and scholars who headed Talmudic academies that flourished, with lengthy interruptions, from the 7th to the 13th century in Babylonia and Palestine. The chief concern of the geonim was to interpret and ...
