Italian archaeologist whose systematic excavation at Pompeii helped to preserve much of the ancient city as nearly intact as possible and contributed significantly to modern archaeological methods.
any of several end-blown flutes having a plug ("block," or "fipple") inside the pipe below the mouth hole, forming a flue, duct, or windway that directs the player's breath alternately ...
(Arabic: "understanding"), Muslim jurisprudence, i.e., the science of ascertaining the precise terms of the Shari'ah, or Islamic law. The collective sources of Muslim jurisprudence are known as usul al-fiqh (q.v.).
properly, any of about 40 species of trees constituting the genus Abies of the family Pinaceae, although many other coniferous evergreen trees are commonly called firs-e.g., the Douglas fir (q.v.), ...
English novelist who was a literary innovator of some importance. Greatly indebted to the literature of the 1890s, his is a peculiarly fantastic and perverse, idiosyncratic humour. His wit largely ...
rapid burning of combustible material with the evolution of heat and usually accompanied by flame. It is one of the human race's essential tools, control of which helped start it ...
in gems, rapidly changing flashes of colour seen in some gems, such as diamonds. Some minerals show dispersion; that is, they break incident white light into its component colours. The ...
means of warning in case of fire. Originally, watchmen provided the only fire-alarm system, but, with the advent of electric power, boxes wired to fire departments provided a warning system ...
(Solenopsis), any of a genus of insects in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera, several species of which are common in North America. The red or yellowish ants are one to ...
plant disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, which has destroyed pear and apple orchards in much of North America, parts of Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. Other plants affected ...
mobile (nowadays self-propelled) piece of equipment used in fire fighting. Early fire engines were hand pumps equipped with reservoirs and were moved to the scene of a fire by human ...
means of rapid egress from a building, primarily intended for use in case of fire. Several types have been used: a knotted rope or rope ladder secured to an inside ...
portable or movable apparatus used to put out a small fire by directing onto it a substance that cools the burning material, deprives the flame of oxygen, or interferes with ...
activity directed at limiting the spread of fire and extinguishing it, particularly as performed by members of organizations (fire services or fire departments) trained for the purpose. When it is ...
any of several red-and-brown or red-and-black birds of Africa that usually have fine white dots on their undersides. Fire finches belong to the family Estrildidae (order Passeriformes). Perhaps the commonest ...
provision against losses caused by fire, lightning, and the removal of property from premises endangered by fire. The insurer agrees, for a fee, to reimburse the insured in the event ...
elongated sandspit, 32 miles (51 km) long and 0.5 mile (1 km) across (at its widest point), Suffolk county, New York, U.S. It lies off the southern shore of Long ...
the prevention, detection, and extinguishment of fires, including such secondary activities as research into the causes of fire, education of the public about fire hazards, and the maintenance and improvement ...
violent convection caused by a continuous area of intense fire and characterized by destructively violent surface indrafts. Sometimes it is accompanied by tornado-like whirls that develop as hot air from ...
religious ceremony practiced in many parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent, Malaya, Japan, China, Fiji Islands, Tahiti, Society Islands, New Zealand, Mauritius, Bulgaria, and Spain. It was also ...
American magazine that exerted a marked impact on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and early '30s despite its demise after the first issue (November 1926).
(Bombina), small amphibian (family Discoglossidae) characterized by bright orange markings on the undersides of its grayish body and limbs. The common fire-bellied toad (B. bombina) is a pond dweller about ...
vessel used in fire fighting in port cities. Basically a large tugboat, the fireboat is equipped with powerful pumps capable of producing streams of up to 12,000 gallons (45,000 litres) ...
refractory material consisting of nonmetallic minerals formed in a variety of shapes for use at high temperatures, particularly in structures for metallurgical operations and glass manufacturing. Principal raw materials for ...
any of the nocturnal luminous insects of the beetle family Lampyridae (order Coleoptera), consisting of about 1,900 species that inhabit tropical and temperate regions. The common glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca) is ...
housing for an open fire inside a dwelling, used for heating and often for cooking. The first fireplaces developed when medieval houses and castles were equipped with chimneys to carry ...
(Pyracantha), any of a genus of usually thorny evergreen shrubs, in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to southeastern Europe and Asia. Firethorns are planted as ornamentals for their showy, berrylike ...
perennial wildflower, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), abundant on newly clear and burned areas. Its spikes of whitish to magenta flowers, which grow up to 1.5 m (5 feet) ...
explosive or combustible used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles, and they were (and still are) used in elaborate combinations ...
any of certain segmented marine worms of the class Polychaeta (phylum Annelida), including species of the genera Hermodice and Eurythoe. Fireworms produce a stinging sensation if touched. The body of ...
town, Loire departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeast-central France. It lies on the Ondaine River immediately southwest of Saint-Etienne. The name, originally Firminiaco signifying "place of Firmin," was first recorded (971) in ...
partially compacted granular snow that is the intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice. Firn is found under the snow that accumulates at the head of a glacier. It is ...
(Dec. 21-22, 1845), conflict between the Sikhs and the British at Firoz Shah, in the Punjab, northern India. It was the first of two decisive battles in the First Sikh ...
city, southwestern Punjab state, northwestern India, 5 miles (8 km) from the Pakistani border. Firozpur was founded by Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14th century; it fell under British rule ...
city, southeastern Haryana state, northwestern India. The city is said to have been founded by Firuz Shah III as a military outpost and was constituted a municipality in 1867. Connected ...
in philosophy, the self-created being (i.e., God) to which every chain of causes must ultimately go back. The term was used by Greek thinkers and became an underlying assumption in ...
in Boston, The Mother Church of Christian Science, first established by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, reestablished as an international organization by Eddy in 1892. The church building was constructed ...
first published edition (1623) of the collected works of William Shakespeare, originally published as Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. It is the major source for contemporary texts of ...
major American commercial bank with branch and representative offices in the United States and abroad. It is the principal subsidiary of the Bank of Boston Corporation (q.v.).
(June 1, 1794), the first great naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between the French and the British in the Atlantic Ocean about 430 miles (690 km) west ...
town situated about 55 miles (88 km) south of Shiraz, in the Fars region of south-central Iran. The town is said to have been founded by the Sasanian king Ardashir ...
in full Abu 'l-tahir Muhammad Ben Ya'kub Ben Muhammad Ben Ibrahim Majd Al-din Al-shafi'i Al-shirazi Al-firuzabadi lexicographer who compiled an extensive dictionary of Arabic that, in its digest form, Al-Qamus ...
measures employed by governments to stabilize the economy, specifically by manipulating the levels and allocations of taxes and government expenditures. Fiscal measures are frequently used in tandem with monetary policy ...
Austrian architect, sculptor, and architectural historian whose Baroque style, a synthesis of classical, Renaissance, and southern Baroque elements, shaped the tastes of the Habsburg empire. Fischer's works include the Dreifaltigkeitskirche ...
American chess master who became the youngest grandmaster in history when he received the title in 1958. His youthful intemperance and brilliant playing drew the attention of the American public ...
American biochemist who was the corecipient with Edwin G. Krebs of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning reversible phosphorylation, a biochemical mechanism that governs ...
German chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1902 in recognition of his investigations of the sugar and purine groups of substances.
German theoretical chemist and educator who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1973 for his identification of a completely new way in which metals and organic substances can combine. ...
German biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1930 for research into the constitution of hemin, the red blood pigment, and chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants.
conversion of so-called synthesis gas, composed mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, to hydrocarbons through the influence of elevated temperatures and normal or elevated pressures in the presence of a ...
the Roman emperor's treasury (where money was stored in baskets), as opposed to the public treasury (aerarium). It drew money primarily from revenues of the imperial provinces, forfeited property, and ...
any of a variety of cold-blooded vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive, jawless lampreys and hagfishes ...
any member of the crustacean subclass Branchiura, a group of parasites of migratory marine and freshwater fishes. Of the approximately 120 known species, most belong to the genus Argulus. The ...
coarsely ground powder made from the cooked flesh of fish. Though formerly important as a fertilizer, fish meal is now primarily used in animal feed-especially for poultry, swine, mink, farm-raised ...
fatty oil from the bodies of fishes, used in the manufacture of many products, such as margarine, cooking oil, cosmetics, caulking compounds, paints, industrial coatings, lubricants, water repellents, soaps, and ...
any of several species of owls of the family Strigidae (order Strigiformes). They live near water and eat fish as well as small mammals and birds. The several Asian species ...
