skibobbing: In 1948 the German Georg Gefäller manufactured the Gefäller Ei (“Gefäller Egg”), which he called a skibob. The sport slowly became international as it spread from Austria to Switzerland, West Germany, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia and then from Europe to the United States, Canada, Japan, and elsewhere.

Karl Barth: International reputation and influence: …aus den Jahren 1954–59 (1959; Deliverance to the Captives), reveal in a unique way the combination of evangelical passion and social concern that had characterized all of his life. Barth died in Basel at age 82.

al-Jifārah, coastal plain of northern Africa, on the Mediterranean coast of extreme northwestern Libya and of southeastern Tunisia. Roughly semicircular, it extends from Qābis (Gabes), Tunisia, to about 12 miles (20 km) east of Tripoli, Libya. Its maximum inland extent is approximately 80 miles

Laura Nyro: …agent and later music mogul David Geffen, she grew more popular with the release of the cult-classic albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969). Nyro incorporated a diversity of influences in her writing and performing, drawing on rhythm and blues, soul, gospel, folk, jazz, and…

Haiti: Trials of a young nation: …1859 one of his generals, Fabre Geffrard, overthrew him. Geffrard encouraged educated mulattoes to join his government and established Haitian respectability abroad.

Gefion, in Nordic mythology, a minor goddess associated with unmarried

Gefion, in Nordic mythology, a minor goddess associated with unmarried

Freyja, (Old Norse: “Lady”), most renowned of the Norse goddesses, who was the sister and female counterpart of Freyr and was in charge of love, fertility, battle, and death. Her father was Njörd, the sea god. Pigs were sacred to her, and she rode a boar with golden bristles. A chariot drawn by

Albania: Languages of Albania: There are two principal dialects: Geg, spoken north of the Shkumbin River, and Tosk, spoken in the south. Geg dialects are also spoken in Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, and Tosk dialects, though somewhat archaic as a result of centuries of separation from their place of origin in Albania,…

Albania: Ethnic groups: …subgroups of Albanians are the Gegs (Ghegs) in the north and the Tosks in the south. Differences between the two groups were quite pronounced before World War II. Until the communist takeover in 1944, Albanian politics were dominated by the more numerous Gegs. Renowned for their independent spirit and fighting…

Karl Gegenbaur was a German anatomist who demonstrated that the field of comparative anatomy offers important evidence in support of evolutionary theory. A professor of anatomy at the universities of Jena (1855–73) and Heidelberg (1873–1903), Gegenbaur was a strong supporter of Charles Darwin’s

gegenschein, oval patch of faint luminosity exactly opposite to the Sun in the night sky. The patch of light is so faint it can be seen only in the absence of moonlight, away from city lights, and with the eyes adapted to darkness. The gegenschein is lost in the light of the Milky Way in the summer

Gego was a Venezuelan artist associated with geometric abstraction, a type of art that uses flat shapes to create nonobjective compositions, and kinetic art, a form of art that relies on motion. She is known for her exploration of line in her immersive handmade wire sculptures and in architecture,

art market: East Asia: …first connoisseur’s manual, Cao Zhao’s Geguyaolun (1388; “Essential Criteria of Antiquities”). It included advice on handling dealers and other collectors.

Friedrich Rückert: …works is a martial poem, Geharnischte Sonette (published in Deutsche Gedichte,1814; “Armoured Sonnets”), a stirring exhortation to Prussians to join in the Wars of Liberation (1813–15) from Napoleonic domination; Rückert stayed home during the war at his parents’ request. Kindertotenlieder (“Songs on the Deaths of Children”), written in 1834 on…

Gestapo, the political police of Nazi Germany. The Gestapo ruthlessly eliminated opposition to the Nazis within Germany and its occupied territories and, in partnership with the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; “Security Service”), was responsible for the roundup of Jews throughout Europe for deportation to

Maximilian I: Legacy of Maximilian I: … (both largely autobiographical), and the Geheimes Jagdbuch, a treatise on hunting, and kept a bevy of poets and artists busy with projects that glorified his reign. His military talents were considerable and led him to use war to attain his ends. He carried out meaningful administrative reforms, and his military…

G.W. Pabst: …was Geheimnisse einer Seele (1926; Secrets of a Soul), a realistic consideration of psychoanalysis that recalls Expressionist themes in its detailed examination of a disturbed consciousness. Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney (1927; The Love of Jeanne Ney) incorporates documentary shots to heighten the realism of its postwar setting. These three…

Gehenna, abode of the damned in the afterlife in Jewish and Christian eschatology (the doctrine of last things). Named in the New Testament in Greek form (from the Hebrew Ge Hinnom, meaning “valley of Hinnom”), Gehenna originally was a valley west and south of Jerusalem where children were burned

Leonard Baskin: In 1942 he founded Gehenna Press, which published finely illustrated books—most notably, editions by poets Ted Hughes and Anthony Hecht that featured Baskin’s art. During World War II Baskin served in the U.S. Navy, and, after a stint with the merchant marine, he returned to New York, where he…

Gehenna, abode of the damned in the afterlife in Jewish and Christian eschatology (the doctrine of last things). Named in the New Testament in Greek form (from the Hebrew Ge Hinnom, meaning “valley of Hinnom”), Gehenna originally was a valley west and south of Jerusalem where children were burned

BND: …1956, it absorbed the “Gehlen Organization,” a covert intelligence force which was created by Major General Reinhard Gehlen after World War II and which cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies. Gehlen had headed the Foreign Armies East section of the Abwehr, the intelligence service of the German general staff. He…

BND: …was created by Major General Reinhard Gehlen after World War II and which cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies. Gehlen had headed the Foreign Armies East section of the Abwehr, the intelligence service of the German general staff. He directed the BND until 1968, when he was succeeded by General Gerhard…

gehlenite, mineral composed of calcium aluminum silicate, Ca2Al2SiO7, one end-member of the melilite mineral series (see

Swift: …was renamed after American astrophysicist Neil Gehrels, who was the satellite’s principal investigator until his death in 2017.

Lou Gehrig was one of the most durable players in American professional baseball and one of its great hitters. From June 1, 1925, to May 2, 1939, Gehrig, playing first base for the New York Yankees, appeared in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood until it was broken on September 6, 1995,

Lou Gehrig was one of the most durable players in American professional baseball and one of its great hitters. From June 1, 1925, to May 2, 1939, Gehrig, playing first base for the New York Yankees, appeared in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that stood until it was broken on September 6, 1995,

Frank Gehry is a Canadian American architect and designer whose original, sculptural, often audacious work won him worldwide renown. In 1947 Gehry and his family immigrated to Los Angeles, where he soon began taking night classes at Los Angeles City College. He then studied architecture at the

Frank Gehry is a Canadian American architect and designer whose original, sculptural, often audacious work won him worldwide renown. In 1947 Gehry and his family immigrated to Los Angeles, where he soon began taking night classes at Los Angeles City College. He then studied architecture at the

Frank Gehry is a Canadian American architect and designer whose original, sculptural, often audacious work won him worldwide renown. In 1947 Gehry and his family immigrated to Los Angeles, where he soon began taking night classes at Los Angeles City College. He then studied architecture at the

Shingei was a Japanese artist who represents the second generation of an extraordinary family of painters and art connoisseurs and who served the Ashikaga shoguns, a family of military dictators that ruled Japan from 1338 to 1573. Shingei succeeded his father, Shinnō (Nōami), as curator of the

Emanuel Geibel was a German poet who was the centre of a circle of literary figures drawn together in Munich by Maximilian II of Bavaria. This group belonged to the Gesellschaft der Krokodile (“Society of the Crocodiles”), a literary society that cultivated traditional poetic themes and forms.

Emanuel Geibel was a German poet who was the centre of a circle of literary figures drawn together in Munich by Maximilian II of Bavaria. This group belonged to the Gesellschaft der Krokodile (“Society of the Crocodiles”), a literary society that cultivated traditional poetic themes and forms.

keyboard instrument: Related stringed keyboard instruments: …instrument, which he called a Geigenwerck, was capable of recreating the sound of an ensemble of viols and produced sounds of different loudness, depending on the force with which the keys were depressed.

Geiger counter, type of ionization chamber (q.v.) especially effective for counting individual particles of

radiation measurement: Geiger-Müller counters: …detector is known as a Geiger discharge.

Cordia: …leaves of the tropical American geiger tree, aloewood, or sebesten plum (C. sebestena) are used as a substitute for sandpaper. The bright red-orange, six- to seven-lobed flowers are striking and occur in large clusters. The greenish, acid-tasting fruits are edible. The tree grows to 10 metres high (about 33 feet).

Abraham Geiger was a German-Jewish theologian, author, and the outstanding leader in the early development of Reform Judaism. In 1832 Geiger went to Wiesbaden as a rabbi and in 1835 helped to found the Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift für jüdische Theologie (“Scientific Journal of Jewish Theology”),

Hans Geiger was a German physicist who introduced the first successful detector (the Geiger counter) of individual alpha particles and other ionizing radiations. Geiger was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Erlangen in 1906 and shortly thereafter joined the staff of the University of Manchester,

Hans Geiger was a German physicist who introduced the first successful detector (the Geiger counter) of individual alpha particles and other ionizing radiations. Geiger was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Erlangen in 1906 and shortly thereafter joined the staff of the University of Manchester,

phenomenology: Phenomenology of essences: Moritz Geiger applied the new approach particularly to aesthetics and Adolf Reinach to the philosophy of law. The most original and dynamic of Husserl’s early associates, however, was Max Scheler, who had joined the Munich group and who did his major phenomenological work on problems…

Rudolf Oskar Robert Williams Geiger was a German meteorologist, one of the founders of microclimatology, the study of the climatic conditions within a few metres of the ground surface. His observations, made above grassy fields or areas of crops and below forest canopies, elucidated the complex and

Theodor Julius Geiger was a German sociologist and the first professor of sociology in Denmark, whose most important studies concerned social stratification and social mobility. Geiger served in World War I, after which he returned to Munich to take his doctorate in law. He was a teacher,

Valéria Dienes was a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, considered the most important exponent of the Hungarian tradition in movement art. In 1905 she received a Ph.D. in philosophy, mathematics, and aesthetics, and not long afterward she married the mathematician Pál Dienes. Her interests soon

Geiger counter, type of ionization chamber (q.v.) especially effective for counting individual particles of

radiation measurement: Geiger-Müller counters: …volt are produced by the Geiger-Müller tube. Because the pulse is so large, little demand is placed on the pulse-processing electronics, and Geiger counting systems can be extremely simple.

radioactivity: Alpha decay: …and proposed a remarkably successful equation for the decay constant, log λ = a + b log r, in which r is the range in air, b is a constant, and a is given different values for the different radioactive series. The decay constants of odd alpha emitters (odd A…

radioactivity: Alpha decay: …and proposed a remarkably successful equation for the decay constant, log λ = a + b log r, in which r is the range in air, b is a constant, and a is given different values for the different radioactive series. The decay constants of odd alpha emitters (odd A…

radioactivity: Alpha decay: …and proposed a remarkably successful equation for the decay constant, log λ = a + b log r, in which r is the range in air, b is a constant, and a is given different values for the different radioactive series. The decay constants of odd alpha emitters (odd A…

Ciba-Geigy AG, Former Swiss pharmaceutical company formed in 1970 from the merger of Ciba AG and J.R. Geigy SA. Ciba started out in the 1850s as a silk-dyeing business and branched out into pharmaceuticals in 1900, by which time it was the largest chemical company in Switzerland. J.R. Geigy dates

snare drum: A concerto, the Geigy Festival Concerto for Basel drum and orchestra (1958), was written by the Swiss composer Rolf Liebermann.

Novartis AG: Geigy dates to 1758, when Johann Rudolf Geigy set up shop in Basel as a chemist and druggist; his son and grandson branched into dyes for the textile industry. In 1868 the founder’s great-grandson, Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian, assumed command, creating a flourishing dyestuff company that went public in 1901 and…

Erik Gustaf Geijer was a Swedish poet, historian, philosopher, and social and political theorist who was a leading advocate, successively, of the conservative and liberal points of view. A trip to England directly after his university days made a great impression on Geijer and gave him political

Sir Archibald Geikie was a British geologist who became the foremost advocate of the fluvial theories of erosion. His prolific book writing made him very influential in his time. In 1855 Geikie was appointed to the Geological Survey of Great Britain, under Sir Roderick I. Murchison. Ten years later

Sir Andre Geim is a physicist who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for his experiments with graphene. He shared the prize with his colleague and former student Konstantin Novoselov. Geim holds dual citizenship in the Netherlands and Great Britain. Geim received a master’s degree from

Sir Andre Geim is a physicist who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for his experiments with graphene. He shared the prize with his colleague and former student Konstantin Novoselov. Geim holds dual citizenship in the Netherlands and Great Britain. Geim received a master’s degree from

Ed Gein was an American serial killer whose gruesome crimes gained worldwide notoriety and inspired numerous books and horror films. Gein endured a difficult childhood. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother was verbally abusive toward him. Gein nevertheless idolized her, a fact that

Ed Gein was an American serial killer whose gruesome crimes gained worldwide notoriety and inspired numerous books and horror films. Gein endured a difficult childhood. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother was verbally abusive toward him. Gein nevertheless idolized her, a fact that

Deaths in 2024: February:

Syv Systre: …plunges several hundred feet into Geiranger Fjord below. The name, which in English means “seven sisters,” is derived from the seven separate streams that join at the top of the falls. East of the falls, on a small plateau about 800 feet (240 metres) above the fjord, is the Knivsflå…

Evan Evans was a Welsh poet and antiquary, one of the principal figures in the mid-18th-century revival of Welsh classical poetry. After leaving the University of Oxford without taking a degree, he served as curate in various parishes. His first publication, Some Specimens of the Poetry of the

bid rigging: …United States was described by Gilbert Geis in his classic article (1967) about the heavy electric equipment cases of 1961. In those cases, all of the major producers of electricity-generating equipment conspired to rig the competitive bids for equipment to be sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) from the…

Ernesto Geisel was an army general who was president of Brazil from 1974 to 1979. A career army officer from an immigrant family of German Lutherans, Geisel joined the military coup led by Getúlio Vargas that overthrew the elected government and installed a dictatorship in 1930. Geisel supported

Dr. Seuss was an American writer and illustrator of immensely popular children’s books noted for their nonsense words, playful rhymes, and unusual creatures. After graduating from Dartmouth College (B.A., 1925), Geisel did postgraduate studies at Lincoln College, Oxford, and at the Sorbonne. He

geisha, a member of a professional class of women in Japan whose traditional occupation is to entertain men, in modern times, particularly at businessmen’s parties in restaurants or teahouses. The Japanese word geisha literally means “art person,” and singing, dancing, and playing the samisen (a

Frank Tashlin: Films of the late 1950s: …and Tashlin teamed again on The Geisha Boy (1958), in which Lewis played a clumsy magician who travels to Japan and South Korea to entertain the U.S. troops and becomes saddled with the care of a Japanese boy in the process. This pair of films, produced by Lewis, more or…

Henry Koster: Films of the 1940s: …of a musician (played by June Allyson) with José Iturbi’s orchestra. Two more musicals followed: Two Sisters from Boston (1946), with Allyson, Kathryn Grayson, and Jimmy Durante, and The Unfinished Dance (1947), starring O’Brien as a dance student who idolizes a ballerina (Cyd Charisse); the latter marked the last time…

electric discharge lamp: The Geissler tube of 1855, in which gas at low pressure glowed when subjected to an electrical voltage, demonstrated the principle of the electric discharge lamp. After practical generators were devised in the 19th century, many experimenters applied electric power to tubes of gas. From about…

Heinrich Geissler was a German glassblower for whom the Geissler (mercury) pump and the Geissler tube are named. Geissler opened a shop in Bonn in 1854 to make scientific apparatus and devised his mercury air pump in 1855. Later, using an apparatus of his own invention, he was able to demonstrate,

Heinrich Geissler was a German glassblower for whom the Geissler (mercury) pump and the Geissler tube are named. Geissler opened a shop in Bonn in 1854 to make scientific apparatus and devised his mercury air pump in 1855. Later, using an apparatus of his own invention, he was able to demonstrate,

Cunoniaceae: …are cultivated as ornamentals, including Geissois racemosa, a New Zealand species with crimson flowers, and Cunonia capensis, a small southern African tree with clusters of small white flowers.

aesthetics: Kant, Schiller, and Hegel: …sequence, from architecture (in which Geist [“spirit”] is only half articulate and given purely symbolic expression), through sculpture and painting, to music and thence to poetry, which is the true art of the Romantics. Finally, all art is destined to be superseded by philosophy, in which the spirit achieves final…

Ernst Moritz Arndt: …his Geist der Zeit (Spirit of the Times, 1808), in which he called on his countrymen to shake off the French yoke. To escape the vengeance of Napoleon, he took refuge in Sweden, from where he continued to communicate his patriotic ideals to his countrymen in pamphlets, poems, and…

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Emancipation from Kantianism of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: …expression in his essay “Der Geist des Christentums und sein Schicksal” (“The Spirit of Christianity and Its Fate”), likewise unpublished until 1907. This is one of Hegel’s most remarkable works. Its style is often difficult and the connection of thought not always plain, but it is written with passion,…

Adam Heinrich Dietrich, baron von Bülow: …French Revolution, he wrote his Geist des neueren Kriegssystems (1799; “Spirit of the New System of Warfare”), in which he advocated the adoption of French infantry tactics making use of columns and skirmishers. His strategic system, based on precise mathematical principles, attempted to transform warfare into an exact science. Bülow’s…

philosophical anthropology: The idealism of Kant and Hegel: … as, at its deepest level, Geistesgeschichte (the movement of “spirit,” or, in contemporary terms, the concept of cultural history) nonetheless inspired a great deal of historical work that made the history of non-Western societies available in a way it had never been before. The ultimately fatal weakness of the Hegelian…

Wilhelm Dilthey: …state,” which he later called Geisteswissenschaften (“human sciences”)—a term that eventually gained general recognition to collectively denote the fields of history, philosophy, religion, psychology, art, literature, law, politics, and economics. In 1883, as a result of these studies, the first volume of his Einleitung in die Geisteswissenschaften (“Introduction to Human…

Annette, Freiin von Droste-Hülshoff: …a cycle of religious poems, Das geistliche Jahr (1851; “The Spiritual Year”), which contains some of the most earnest religious poetry of the 19th century and reflects the inner turbulence and doubt of her spiritual life.

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert: Equally popular was Geistliche Oden und Lieder (1757; “Spiritual Odes and Songs”), poems and hymns that combined religious feeling with the rationalism of the Enlightenment. The most famous of these, “Die Himmel rühmen des ewigen Ehren” (“The Heavens Praise the Eternal Glories”) and “Die Ehre Gottes aus der…

thermionic power converter: Development of thermionic devices: …to 1889, Julius Elster and Hans Geitel of Germany developed a sealed device containing two electrodes, one of which could be heated while the other one was cooled. They discovered that, at fairly low temperatures, electric current flows with little resistance if the hot electrode is positively charged. At moderately…

Timothy Geithner is an American public official who served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003–09) and as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2009-13) in the administration of Pres. Barack Obama. Geithner’s father, Peter Franz

Timothy Geithner is an American public official who served as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2003–09) and as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (2009-13) in the administration of Pres. Barack Obama. Geithner’s father, Peter Franz

Gejiu, city, southern Yunnan sheng (province), China. It lies near the Vietnamese border and is the site of China’s most important tin-mining operation. Gejiu was originally a small mining settlement called Gejiuli; mining of silver was begun there under the Yuan (1206–1368) and Ming (1368–1644)

Gejiu, city, southern Yunnan sheng (province), China. It lies near the Vietnamese border and is the site of China’s most important tin-mining operation. Gejiu was originally a small mining settlement called Gejiuli; mining of silver was begun there under the Yuan (1206–1368) and Ming (1368–1644)

Halland: …the county’s biggest attraction is Gekås Ullared, a discount superstore located in the village of Ullared, which is among the largest of its kind in Europe and which annually draws millions of shoppers. Area museums include Halland Art Museum in Halmstad; the Falkenbergs Museum, which is dedicated to Swedish and…

gecko, (suborder Gekkota), any of more than 1,000 species of lizards making up six families of the suborder Gekkota. Geckos are mostly small, usually nocturnal reptiles with a soft skin. They also possess a short stout body, a large head, and typically well-developed limbs. The ends of each limb

gecko: The tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), native to Southeast Asia, is the largest species, attaining a length of 25 to 35 cm (10 to 14 inches). It is gray with red and whitish spots and bands and is frequently sold in pet shops.

Ivan Boesky: … in which the fictional character Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas), giving a speech to corporate shareholders, opines that greed is good.

lizard: Annotated classification: Subfamily Gekkoninae (geckos) Geckos that may or may not have adhesive toe pads. They usually have spectacles over their eyes and granular skin (often with small tubercles). They occur throughout the world in the tropics, subtropics, and deserts. 77 genera and over 800 species are known.…

gecko, (suborder Gekkota), any of more than 1,000 species of lizards making up six families of the suborder Gekkota. Geckos are mostly small, usually nocturnal reptiles with a soft skin. They also possess a short stout body, a large head, and typically well-developed limbs. The ends of each limb

Japanese art: Muromachi period: …powerful, as the time of gekokujō—the world turned upside down—an inverted social order when the lowly reigned over the elite. The arrival of untutored provincial warriors and their retinues in Kyōto effected theretofore unthinkable juxtapositions of social classes engaged in similar cultural pursuits. Nevertheless, despite the complaints of many aristocrats,…

Ise Shrine: …the Inner Shrine (Naikū) and Outer Shrine (Gekū), situated about 4 miles (6 km) apart. Ise Shrine is a major destination for pilgrims and for tourists and has millions of visitors annually.

gel, coherent mass consisting of a liquid in which particles too small to be seen in an ordinary optical microscope are either dispersed or arranged in a fine network throughout the mass. A gel may be notably elastic and jellylike (as gelatin or fruit jelly), or quite solid and rigid (as silica

gel chromatography, in analytical chemistry, technique for separating chemical substances by exploiting the differences in the rates at which they pass through a bed of a porous, semisolid substance. The method is especially useful for separating enzymes, proteins, peptides, and amino acids from

gel electrophoresis, any of several techniques used to separate molecules of DNA, RNA, or protein on the basis of their size or electric charge. Gel electrophoresis has a variety of applications; for example, it is used in DNA fingerprinting and the detection of genetic variants and proteins

gel chromatography, in analytical chemistry, technique for separating chemical substances by exploiting the differences in the rates at which they pass through a bed of a porous, semisolid substance. The method is especially useful for separating enzymes, proteins, peptides, and amino acids from

separation and purification: Field separations: …also be electrophoretically separated by gel sieving. In this technique, the protein is denatured (i.e., its higher structural features are destroyed) and combined with an excess of detergent, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The resulting SDS-protein complexes have the same charge density and shape and are therefore resolved according…

man-made fibre: Gel spinning: Gel spinning is an old technique that has come into use commercially only since the 1980s. As originally applied, solutions of very high solid contents (20–80 percent) were used; such solutions were similar to semisolids. In the modern adaptation of this process, polymer…

gel chromatography, in analytical chemistry, technique for separating chemical substances by exploiting the differences in the rates at which they pass through a bed of a porous, semisolid substance. The method is especially useful for separating enzymes, proteins, peptides, and amino acids from

Gela, town, southern Sicily, Italy, on the Gulf of Gela (of the Mediterranean Sea) with a fertile plain (ancient Campi Geloi) to the north. It was founded by Cretan and Rhodian colonists in about 688 bc and sent forth colonists to found Acragas (now Agrigento, 45 miles [72 km] northwest) in about