Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

0-9

International Settlements, Bank for ... introvert and extravert

International Settlements, Bank for: international bank established at Basel, Switz., in 1930, as the agency to handle the payment of reparations by Germany after World War I and as an institution for cooperation among the central banks of the various countries (see Young Plan). ...
International Society of Christian Endeavor: interdenominational organization for Protestant youth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It was founded in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark, who served as president until 1927. Members of the society pledged to try to make some useful contribution to ...
International Space Station: space station assembled in low Earth orbit largely by the United States and Russia, with assistance and components from a multinational consortium.
International Standard Book Number: in bibliography, 10-digit number assigned before publication to a book or edition thereof, which identifies the work's national, geographic, language, or other convenient group, and its publisher, title, edition, and volume number. The ISBN is part of the International Standard ...
International Standard Serial Number: in bibliography, eight-digit number that provides a concise and unambiguous identification code for serial publications. Unlike the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), this number's only significance is its unique identification of a particular publication; it does not record such characteristics ...
International Style: architectural style that developed in Europe and the United States in the 1920s and '30s and became the dominant tendency in Western architecture during the middle decades of the 20th century. The most common characteristics of International Style buildings are ...
International System of Units: international decimal system of weights and measures derived from and extending the metric system of units. Adopted by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960, it is abbreviated SI in all languages.
International Telecommunication Union: specialized agency of the United Nations that was created to encourage international cooperation in all forms of telecommunication. Its activities include maintaining order in the allocation of radio frequencies, setting standards on technical and operational matters, and assisting countries in ...
international trade: economic transactions that are made between countries. Among the items commonly traded are consumer goods, such as television sets and clothing; capital goods, such as machinery; and raw materials and food. Other transactions involve services, such as travel services and ...
International Ultraviolet Explorer: astronomical research satellite built in the 1970s as a cooperative project of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Science and Engineering Research Council of the United Kingdom, and the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in January 1978, ...
International Unit: in pharmacology, quantity of a substance, such as a vitamin, hormone, or toxin, that produces a specified effect when tested according to an internationally accepted biological procedure. For certain substances, the IU has been identified with a weight of a ...
International Whaling Commission: an intergovernmental organization that regulates whaling, a competitive industry based on the hunting of a common global resource. The commission was created after World War II by the Allied Powers, who were eager to increase fat and meat supplies but ...
International Women's Day: day (March 8) honouring the achievements of women and promoting women's rights. A national holiday in numerous countries, it has been sponsored by the United Nations (UN) since 1975.
International, First: federation of workers' groups that, despite ideological divisions within its ranks, had a considerable influence as a unifying force for labour in Europe during the latter part of the 19th century.
International, Fourth: a multinational body composed of Trotskyist organizations that was first formed in opposition to the policies of the Stalin-dominated Third International, or Comintern.
International, Second: federation of socialist parties and trade unions that greatly influenced the ideology, policy, and methods of the European labour movement from the last decade of the 19th century to the beginning of World War I.
International, Third: association of national communist parties founded in 1919. Though its stated purpose was the promotion of world revolution, the Comintern functioned chiefly as an organ of Soviet control over the international communist movement.
Internationale, L': former official socialist and communist song. It was the anthem of the First, Second, and Third Internationals and, from 1918 to 1944, the national anthem of the Soviet Union.
Internet: a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect. Sometimes referred to as a "network of networks," the Internet emerged in the United States in the 1970s but ...
interplanetary dust particle: a small grain, generally less than a few hundred micrometres in size and composed of silicate minerals and glassy nodules but sometimes including sulfides, metals, other minerals, and carbonaceous material, in orbit around the Sun. The existence of interplanetary dust ...
interplanetary medium: thinly scattered matter that exists between the planets and other bodies of the solar system, as well as the forces (e.g., magnetic and electric) that pervade this region of space. The material components of the interplanetary medium consist of neutral ...
Interpol: intergovernmental organization that facilitates cooperation between the criminal police forces of more than 180 countries. Interpol aims to promote the widest-possible mutual assistance between criminal police forces and to establish and develop institutions likely to contribute to the prevention and ...
interpolation: in mathematics, the determination or estimation of the value of f(x), or a function of x, from certain known values of the function. If x₀ < &elipsis; < x_n and y₀ = f(x₀),&elipsis;, y_n = f(x_n) are known, and if x₀ < x < x_n, then the estimated value of ...
interrex: in ancient Rome, a provisional ruler specially appointed for a period during which the normal constituted authority was in abeyance (the interregnum). The title originated during the period of the Roman kings when an interrex was appointed (traditionally by the ...
interrogation: in criminal law, process of questioning by which police obtain evidence. The process is largely outside the governance of law except for rules concerning the admissibility at trial of confessions obtained through interrogation and limitations on the power of police ...
Interrogation of the Old Men, The: in Irish literature, the preeminent tale of the Old Irish Fenian cycle of heroic tales. The "old men" are the Fenian poets Oisin (Ossian) and Caoilte, who, having survived the destruction of their comrades at the Battle of Gabhra, return ...
interstate commerce: in U.S. constitutional law, any commercial transactions or traffic that cross state boundaries or that involve more than one state. The traditional concept that the free flow of commerce between states should not be impeded has been used to effect ...
Interstate Commerce Commission: (1887-1996), the first regulatory agency established in the United States, and a prototype for independent government regulatory bodies. See regulatory agency.
interstellar medium: region between the stars that contains vast, diffuse clouds of gases and minute solid particles. Such tenuous matter in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way system, in which the Earth is located, accounts for about 5 percent of the ...
intertropical convergence zone: belt of converging trade winds and rising air that encircles the Earth near the Equator. The rising air produces high cloudiness, frequent thunderstorms, and heavy rainfall; the doldrums, oceanic regions of calm surface air, occur within the zone. The ITCZ ...
Intertype: (trademark), typesetting machine similar to Linotype that sets type in full lines called slugs, long used to set newspaper copy. The Intertype machine incorporates a keyboard, a magazine that contains continuously reused type matrices, a casting mechanism, and a distribution ...
interval: in music, the distance in pitch between one tone and another, whether sounded simultaneously (harmonic interval) or successively (melodic interval). Simple intervals encompass one octave or less. Compound intervals exceed the range of one octave and are heard as varieties ...
interval estimation: in statistics, the evaluation of a parameter-for example, the mean (average)-of a population by computing an interval, or range of values, within which the parameter is most likely to be located. Intervals are commonly chosen such that the parameter falls ...
interval training: method of competitive training in which rest and exercise intervals of controlled duration are alternated. Rest intervals allow time for the athlete's pulse rate to return to near normal before beginning the next exercise period. During exercise intervals, the athlete ...
intestate succession: in the law of inheritance, succession to property that has not been disposed of by a valid last will or testament. Although laws governing intestate succession vary widely in different jurisdictions, they share the common principle that the estate should ...
intestinal gas: material contained within the digestive tract that consists principally of swallowed air and partly of by-products of digestion. In humans the digestive tract contains normally between 150 and 500 cubic cm (10 and 30 cubic inches) of gas. During eating, ...
intestinal juice: clear to pale yellow, watery secretion composed of hormones, digestive enzymes, mucus, and neutralizing substances released from the glands and mucous-membrane lining of the small and large intestines. Intestinal juice neutralizes hydrochloric acid coming from the stomach; releases gastrointestinal hormones ...
intestinal obstruction: functional or mechanical blockage of the alimentary canal. Functional blockage occurs when the muscles of the intestinal wall fail to contract normally in the wavelike sequence (peristalsis) that propels the intestinal contents. Mechanical obstructions include a narrowing of the channel ...
intestinal squeeze: pain and possible injury to the small or large intestine caused by expansion of trapped gases when a person, especially a pilot or underwater diver, goes from areas of greater pressure to areas of less pressure. Under normal atmospheric conditions, ...
intestine: tubular part of the alimentary canal that extends from the stomach to the anus. The intestine is the site of most chemical digestive processes and the place where digested food materials are either absorbed for use by the body or ...
Inthanon, Mount: mountain in northwestern Thailand that is the country's highest peak (8,481 feet [2,585 m]). It lies southwest of Chiang Mai, in a spur of the Danen Range between the Chaem (west) and Ping (east) rivers.
Inti: in Inca religion, the sun god; he was believed to be the ancestor of the Incas. Inti was at the head of the state cult, and his worship was imposed throughout the Inca empire. He was usually represented in human ...
Intimism: variety of late 19th- and early 20th-century painting that made an intense exploration of the domestic interior as subject matter. It was practiced principally by Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, the two most distinguished members of the Nabis. To convey ...
Intolerable Acts: (1774), in U.S. colonial history, four punitive measures enacted by the British Parliament in retaliation for acts of colonial defiance, together with the Quebec Act establishing a new administration for the territory ceded to Britain after the French and Indian ...
intonation: in phonetics, the melodic pattern of an utterance. Intonation is primarily a matter of variation in the pitch level of the voice (see also tone), but in such languages as English, stress and rhythm are also involved. Intonation conveys differences ...
Intracoastal Waterway: navigable toll-free shipping route, extending for about 3,000 miles (4,800 km) along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico coasts in the southern and eastern United States. It utilizes sounds, bays, lagoons, rivers, and canals and is usable in many ...
Intramuros: urban district and historic walled city within Metropolitan Manila, in the Philippines. The name, from the Spanish word meaning "within walls," refers to the fortified city founded at the mouth of the Pasig River shortly after 1571 by the Spanish ...
intrigue, comedy of: in dramatic literature, a comic form in which complicated conspiracies and stratagems dominate the plot. The complex plots and subplots of such comedies are often based on ridiculous and contrived situations with large doses of farcical humour. An example of ...
intrinsic factor: a glycoprotein (i.e., a complex compound containing both polysaccharide and protein components) with which vitamin B₁₂ (cyanocobalamin) must combine to be absorbed by the gut. Intrinsic factor is secreted by parietal cells of the gastric glands in the stomach, where ...
introspection: (from Latin introspicere, "to look within"), the process of observing the operations of one's own mind with a view to discovering the laws that govern the mind. In a dualistic philosophy that divides the stuff of the natural world (matter, ...
introvert and extravert: basic personality types according to the theories of the 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. According to these theories, an introvert is a person whose interest is generally directed inward toward his own feelings and thoughts, in contrast to an extravert, ...