Polish literature: Romanticism: His two-volume Poezye (1822–23; “Poems”) was the first major literary event of the period. The second volume included parts two and four of Dziady (Forefathers’ Eve), in which he combined folklore and mystic atmosphere to create a new kind of Romantic drama. Mickiewicz wrote his greatest works…

poffertjes, small Dutch pancakes, traditionally served with powdered sugar and knobs of butter. They are made of a batter that typically includes yeast and buckwheat flour, yielding a light, fluffy texture. The batter is poured over a hot cast-iron pan with shallow half-spherical molds, and then

poacher, (family Agonidae), any of the marine fishes of the family Agonidae (order Scorpaeniformes), a group of approximately 50 species that also includes alligatorfishes, sea poachers, and starsnouts. Poachers live in cold water, on the bottom, and are found mainly in the northern Pacific Ocean.

illusion: Visual perceptual illusions: The Poggendorff illusion depends on the steepness of the intersecting lines. As obliqueness is decreased, the illusion becomes less compelling. In the Zöllner illusion, the cross-hatching disturbs the perception of parallel lines. A figure seen touching converging lines, as in the Ponzo illusion, seems larger than…

Detlev, baron von Liliencron: His loosely constructed satiric epic Poggfred, ein kunter-buntes Epos (1896; “Poggfred, a Topsy-Turvy Epic”) achieved some success.

Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini was an Italian humanist and calligrapher, foremost among scholars of the early Renaissance as a rediscoverer of lost, forgotten, or neglected Classical Latin manuscripts in the monastic libraries of Europe. While working in Florence as a copyist of manuscripts,

ancient Italic people: Archaeological evidence: …finds from the site of Poggio Civitate (Murlo) near Siena, where excavations (begun in 1966) have revealed a huge building of the Archaic period with rammed earth walls, measuring about 197 feet on each side and featuring a large court in the middle. It was adorned with life-size terra-cotta figures,…

Poco, American band of the 1970s and ’80s that strongly influenced the development of country rock. The original members were Richie Furay (b. May 9, 1944, Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S.), George Grantham (b. November 20, 1947, Cordell, Oklahoma), Randy Meisner (b. March 8, 1946, Scottsbluff,

Western dance: Social dance: …and dances such as the pogo, in which dancers jumped in place to the music’s rhythm. Partner dancing never disappeared completely, however, and was especially prominent in the “western-swing” dancing of American country and western music.

Pogo, popular 20th-century American comic-strip character, a cartoon possum who was the main actor in an often politically charged daily newspaper strip of the same name. Pogo Possum represented Everyman, though he was a classic comedic straight man among the denizens of Okefenokee Swamp, a

Pogo, popular 20th-century American comic-strip character, a cartoon possum who was the main actor in an often politically charged daily newspaper strip of the same name. Pogo Possum represented Everyman, though he was a classic comedic straight man among the denizens of Okefenokee Swamp, a

Pogonia, genus of two species of terrestrial orchids (family Orchidaceae) native to temperate zones of Asia and North America. Pogonia species have a slender rootstock and usually bear one leaf about halfway up the stem and several at the base. The pinkish flowers have an odour similar to

Pogonia: The Asian pogonia (P. japonica) grows in moist open areas of Japan, Korea, and parts of China.

Pogonia: Snakemouth (P. ophioglossoides), also known as rose pogonia and adder’s mouth, is common in bogs and swamps of eastern North America. The plant is about 8 to 53 cm (3 to 21 inches) tall. The Asian pogonia (P. japonica) grows in moist open areas of…

drum: …an air bladder; and the sea drum, or black drum (Pogonias cromis), a gray or coppery red, western Atlantic fish.

Pogonia: …other genera in the tribe Pogonieae are commonly known as “pogonias.” The small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides) and the large whorled pogonia (I. verticillata) are North American orchids and the only members of their genus. The small whorled pogonia is listed as an endangered species in many of the states…

tinkerbird, any of several species of tiny barbets, which, at 9 cm (3.5 inches), are the smallest of the family Capitonidae (order Piciformes). Tinkerbirds constitute the genus Pogoniulus. They are named for their metallic call—like a tinker mending pots—repeated unendingly in African forest and

tinkerbird: …the best known is the yellow-fronted tinkerbird (P. chrysoconus) of east-central Africa. It is glossy black above, with yellow rump and forehead, white eye stripes, and black moustache mark; the breast is pale gray, the belly greenish yellow.

beard worm, (family Siboglinidae), any of a group of polychaetes (marine worms) constituting the family Siboglinidae. Beard worms live sedentary lives in long protective tubes on the seafloor throughout the world. The common name beard worm refers to the beardlike mass of pinnate (featherlike)

beard worm, (family Siboglinidae), any of a group of polychaetes (marine worms) constituting the family Siboglinidae. Beard worms live sedentary lives in long protective tubes on the seafloor throughout the world. The common name beard worm refers to the beardlike mass of pinnate (featherlike)

patchouli, (Pogostemon cablin), aromatic flowering plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae), the leaves of which are a source of essential oil that is used as a fragrance in perfumes, cosmetics, and incense. Patchouli is native to tropical Asia, where it is widely cultivated and has been used for

pogrom, (Russian: “devastation,” or “riot”), a mob attack, either approved or condoned by authorities, against the persons and property of a religious, racial, or national minority. The term is usually applied to attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The

magnitude: In 1850 the English astronomer Norman Robert Pogson proposed the system presently in use. One magnitude is defined as a ratio of brightness of 2.512 times; e.g., a star of magnitude 5.0 is 2.512 times as bright as one of magnitude 6.0. Thus, a difference of five magnitudes corresponds to…

Elvis Costello: Branching out to other genres: …and the Irish-British folk-punk band the Pogues. In 1985 Costello divorced his first wife, Mary Burgoyne, and he married Cait O’Riordan, the Pogues’ bassist, the following year.

menhaden, any of several species of valuable Atlantic coastal fishes in the genus Brevoortia of the herring family (Clupeidae), utilized for oil, fish meal, and fertilizer. Menhaden have a deep body, sharp-edged belly, large head, and tooth-edged scales. Adults are about 37.5 cm (about 15 inches)

Cape gooseberry, (Physalis peruviana), species of ground cherry in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) and its edible fruit. The plant is native to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and was widely grown in South Africa beginning in the 19th century, which is likely the source of its common name. It is

Hifikepunye Pohamba was a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia (2005–15). He served as the president of the SWAPO Party of Namibia (2007–15). Pohamba was born in a small village in northern Owambo (Ovamboland) when Namibia was still known as South West Africa and was

Hifikepunye Pohamba was a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia (2005–15). He served as the president of the SWAPO Party of Namibia (2007–15). Pohamba was born in a small village in northern Owambo (Ovamboland) when Namibia was still known as South West Africa and was

Pohang, city and port, North Gyeongsang do (province), eastern South Korea. A fishing and shipping port, it lies on the eastern side of Yeongil Gulf, about 50 miles (80 km) east-northeast of Daegu, the provincial capital. Formerly a small village, it began to develop after 1930 with the

Wu Changshuo was a Chinese seal carver, painter, and calligrapher who was prominent in the early 20th century. Wu was born into a scholarly family and began writing poems and carving seals by age 10. As a young man, Wu passed the civil service examinations and started a family, while still pursuing

Tonga: History of Tonga: …victory in December 2014 elections, ‘Akilisi Pohiva took office as prime minister in January 2015. Pohiva died in September 2019, however, and was replaced by Semisi Sika, who held the title of acting prime minister until later that month, when Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa was elected by the Fale Alea to fill…

Gulf of Bothnia, northern arm of the Baltic Sea, between Sweden (west) and Finland (east). Covering an area of about 45,200 square miles (117,000 square km), the gulf extends for 450 miles (725 km) from north to south but only 50 to 150 miles (80 to 240 km) from east to west; it is nearly closed

põhjanael, in Estonian folklore, the North Star. Before the influence of Christianity, Finnic peoples shared a worldview in which the firmament was supported by a gigantic pillar, tree, or mountain, around the top of which the sky turned. Estonians visualized the sky as an upturned cauldron to

Pohjanmaa, lowland plain in western Finland, along the Gulf of Bothnia. Pohjanmaa is about 60 miles (100 km) wide and 160 miles (257 km) long. It consists of flat plains of sand and clay soil that are broken by rivers and bog areas. It is drained mainly by the Lapuan, Kyrön, and Iso rivers, which

Manala, in Finnish mythology, the realm of the dead. The word is possibly derived from the compound maan-ala, “the space (or area) under the earth.” It is also called Tuonela, the realm of Tuoni, and Pohjola, derived from the word pohja, meaning “bottom” and also “north.” The Finnish underworld and

Frederik Pohl was an American science-fiction writer whose best work uses the genre as a mode of social criticism and as an exploration of the long-range consequences of technology in an ailing society. Pohl was a high-school dropout, but, by the time he was 20 years old, he was editing the

Frederik Pohl was an American science-fiction writer whose best work uses the genre as a mode of social criticism and as an exploration of the long-range consequences of technology in an ailing society. Pohl was a high-school dropout, but, by the time he was 20 years old, he was editing the

Pohnpei, high coral-capped volcanic island, eastern Caroline Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, western Pacific Ocean. Pohnpei is roughly square in shape; it is well watered and hilly (rising to Dolohmwar, 2,595 feet [791 metres] above sea level) and is surrounded by a barrier reef with many

Micronesian culture: High-island and low-island cultures: …the large Chuuk Lagoon; the Pohnpeians; the Kosraeans; and some inhabitants of the isolated island of Nauru, which is geologically a raised atoll (without exposed volcanic rock).

Poch’ŏngyo, (Korean: “Universal Religion”), indigenous Korean religion, also popularly called Humch’igyo from the distinctive practice of chanting humch’i, a word said to have mystical significance. Poch’ŏngyo was founded by Kang Il-sun (1871–1909), who initially gained a following by offering to

New Zealand literature: Maori narrative: the oral tradition: …there are pao (gossip songs), poi (songs accompanying a dance performed with balls attached to flax strings, swung rhythmically), oriori (songs composed for young children of chiefly or warrior descent, to help them learn their heritage), and karanga (somewhere between song and chant, performed by women welcoming or farewelling visitors…

poi, starchy Polynesian food paste made from the taro root. In Samoa and other Pacific islands, poi is a thick paste of pounded bananas or pineapples mixed with coconut cream; the word originally denoted the action of pounding the food to a pulp. In Hawaii, where poi is a staple of local cuisine,

luau, a modern Hawaiian banquet. The word luau originally denoted only the leaves of the taro plant, which are eaten as a vegetable; it came to refer to the dishes prepared with the leaves and then to the feasts at which the dishes were eaten. Today the term designates the modern informal feast, as

linsang: The African linsang (Poiana richardsoni), the banded linsang (Prionodon linsang), and the spotted linsang (Prionodon pardicolor) vary in colour, but all resemble elongated cats. They grow to a length of 33–43 cm (13–17 inches), excluding a banded tail almost as long, and have slender bodies, relatively…

Romania: Relief: …massifs themselves, the Banat and Poiana Ruscăi mountains contain a rich variety of mineral resources and are the site of two of the country’s three largest metallurgical complexes, at Reșița and Hunedoara. The marble of Ruschița is well known. To the north lie the Apuseni Mountains, centred on the Bihor…

Easter Island: Traditional culture: …along an ancient ditch at Poike on the far northeastern coast. Carbon dating and genealogies concur in placing this event and the beginning of the late period at about 1680. The original construction of the artificial Poike ditch, according to carbon dating, took place about 380 ce.

igneous rock: Important textural types: Poikilitic texture describes the occurrence of one mineral that is irregularly scattered as diversely oriented crystals within much larger host crystals of another mineral.

Megalosaurus: …of a possibly related genus, Poikilopleuron, from near the Normandy coast of France, were destroyed during World War II.

cold-bloodedness, the state of having a variable body temperature that is usually only slightly higher than the environmental temperature. This state distinguishes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrate animals from warm-blooded, or homoiothermic, animals (birds and mammals). Because of

Pierre Poilievre is a Canadian politician serving as the leader of Canada’s Conservative Party. Poilievre has sometimes been compared to U.S. Pres. Donald Trump for his populist politics and his acerbic and confrontational style. Poilievre and his biological half brother, Patrick, were adopted by

Nicholas Of Clémanges was a theologian, humanist, and educator who denounced the corruption of institutional Christianity, advocated general ecclesiastical reform, and attempted to mediate the Western Schism (rival claimants to the papacy) during the establishment of the papal residence in Avignon,

Poincaré conjecture, in topology, conjecture—now proven to be a true theorem—that every simply connected, closed, three-dimensional manifold is topologically equivalent to S3, which is a generalization of the ordinary sphere to a higher dimension (in particular, the set of points in

non-Euclidean geometry: Hyperbolic geometry: In the Poincaré disk model (see figure, top right), the hyperbolic surface is mapped to the interior of a circular disk, with hyperbolic geodesics mapping to circular arcs (or diameters) in the disk that meet the bounding circle at right angles. In the Poincaré upper half-plane model…

analysis: Dynamical systems theory and chaos: …novel idea, now called a Poincaré section. Suppose one knows some solution path and wants to find out how nearby solution paths behave. Imagine a surface that slices through the known path. Nearby paths will also cross this surface and may eventually return to it. By studying how this “point…

non-Euclidean geometry: Hyperbolic geometry: In the Poincaré upper half-plane model (see figure, bottom), the hyperbolic surface is mapped onto the half-plane above the x-axis, with hyperbolic geodesics mapped to semicircles (or vertical rays) that meet the x-axis at right angles. Both Poincaré models distort distances while preserving angles as measured by…

Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, one of the greatest mathematicians and mathematical physicists at the end of 19th century. He made a series of profound innovations in geometry, the theory of differential equations, electromagnetism, topology, and the philosophy of mathematics. Poincaré

Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, one of the greatest mathematicians and mathematical physicists at the end of 19th century. He made a series of profound innovations in geometry, the theory of differential equations, electromagnetism, topology, and the philosophy of mathematics. Poincaré

Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who as prime minister in 1912 largely determined the policy that led to France’s involvement in World War I, during which he served as president of the Third Republic. The son of an engineer, he was educated at the École Polytechnique. After studying law at

the New York Dolls: >David Johansen (born January 9, 1950, New York City, New York, U.S.—died February 28, 2025, New York City) Johnny Thunders (byname of John Genzale; born July 15, 1952, New York City—died April 23, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana)

Iran-Contra Affair: Arms for hostages and the Enterprise: John M. Poindexter. North and his associates also raised private funds for the contras, and the transfer of arms and other matériel to the counterrevolutionaries was conducted by an organization known as the Enterprise, which was overseen by retired Air Force major general Richard Secord.…

John of Saint Thomas was a philosopher and theologian whose comprehensive commentaries on Roman Catholic doctrine made him a leading spokesman for post-Reformation Thomism, a school of thought named after its foremost theorist, St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–74), who systematically integrated Catholic

Joel R. Poinsett was an American statesman noted primarily for his diplomacy in Latin America. A fervent liberal, he frequently meddled in the affairs of Latin American nations, incurring their animosity by his misdirected good intentions. The son of a prominent South Carolina physician, Poinsett

Joel R. Poinsett was an American statesman noted primarily for his diplomacy in Latin America. A fervent liberal, he frequently meddled in the affairs of Latin American nations, incurring their animosity by his misdirected good intentions. The son of a prominent South Carolina physician, Poinsett

Septima Poinsette Clark was an American educator and civil rights activist. Her own experience of racial discrimination fueled her pursuit of racial equality and her commitment to strengthen the African American community through literacy and citizenship training and education. Septima Poinsette

poinsettia, (Euphorbia pulcherrima), well-known member of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), commonly sold as an ornamental at Christmastime. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and Central America, where it grows in moist, wet, wooded ravines and on rocky hillsides. It was named for Joel R.

ignition system: …are produced by means of breaker points controlled by a revolving distributor cam. When the points are in contact they complete an electrical circuit through the primary winding of the ignition coil. When the points are separated by the cam, the primary circuit is broken, which creates a high-voltage surge…

carat: 200 g, and the point, equal to 0.01 carat, were adopted by the United States in 1913 and subsequently by most other countries. The weights of diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, aquamarine, garnet, tourmaline, zircon, spinel, and sometimes opal and pearl are expressed in carats.

ice hockey: Strategies: …position known as the "point." Long shots rarely go in, so defensemen try to keep long shots low, which gives the attackers a chance at a rebound.

mathematics: Projective geometry: This associates with each point a line and with each line a point, in such a way that (1) three points lying in a line give rise to three lines meeting in a point and, conversely, three lines meeting in a point give rise to three points lying on…

application lace, lace produced by the application, by stitching, of design motifs (typically floral) to a background net made either by hand or by machine. This technique was common in the second half of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century. The only handmade net commonly used was made

projective geometry: Parallel lines and the projection of infinity: …who first introduced a single point at infinity to represent the projected intersection of parallel lines. Furthermore, he collected all the points along the horizon in one line at infinity.) With the introduction of Ω, the projected figure corresponds to a theorem discovered by Menelaus of Alexandria in the 1st…

Point Barrow, northernmost point of Alaska, U.S., situated on the Arctic Ocean. Archaeological evidence dates human habitation (by Inupiaq Eskimos) in the area from about 500 ce. The headland was explored in 1826 by Frederick W. Beechey and named for Sir John Barrow, British promoter of Arctic

Point Blank, American crime thriller film, released in 1967, that overcame weak box-office results to become a cult favourite, especially known for Lee Marvin’s lead performance as an emotionless man seeking revenge and for John Boorman’s stylish direction. On the deserted prison island of

Kathryn Bigelow: Bigelow’s next film, Point Break (1991), centres on a FBI agent (played by Keanu Reeves) whose loyalty is tested when he infiltrates a charismatic gang of bank-robbing surfers. In addition to being a box-office success, it solidified Bigelow’s place in the traditionally male-dominated world of action films. With…

electricity: Calculating the value of an electric field: …the electric field of a point charge. The electric field E produced by charge Q2 is a vector. The magnitude of the field varies inversely as the square of the distance from Q2; its direction is away from Q2 when Q2 is a positive charge and toward Q2 when Q2…

point Colbert, (French: “Colbert lace”), needle-made lace developed at Bayeux in France in 1855, inspired by 17th-century Alençon lace (q.v.) and named after Louis XIV’s minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who started Alençon’s industry. Like Alençon, it had conventionalized flowers, stems, and the

Point Counter Point, novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1928. In his most ambitious and complex work, Huxley offers a vision of life from a number of different points of view, using a large cast of characters who are compared to instruments in an orchestra, each playing his separate portion of

Alençon lace, needle lace produced in Alençon in northwestern France. The city of Alençon was already famous for its cutwork and reticella (see embroidered lace) when in 1665 Louis XIV’s minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert introduced Venetian lacemakers into the area to teach the local women the secrets

Angleterre, bobbin lace comparable to fine Brussels lace in thread, technique, and design; but whether it was made in England or Brussels or both is debatable. To encourage home industries, both England and France had laws in the 1660s prohibiting the importation of Brussels lace, which was much in

Argentan lace, lace produced in Normandy from the 17th century. The town of Argentan lies in the same lace-making area of Normandy as Alençon, and its products were for some time referred to as Alençon lace. However, technical differences, particularly in the background mesh, were distinguishable

point de France, (French: “French lace”), the 17th-century school of French lace set up by Louis XIV’s minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert to curb the national extravagance in buying foreign lace. Colbert imported laceworkers from Venice and Flanders and settled them in and around centres where lace was

Galle, port and city, Sri Lanka, situated on a large harbour on the island’s southern coast. Galle dates from the 13th century, possibly much earlier, but it became the island’s chief port during the period of Portuguese rule (1507–c. 1640). Under Dutch rule it was the island capital until 1656,

point de gaze, (French: “gauze lace”), needle lace produced in Brussels, principally from 1851 to around 1900, though in the late 20th century it was still being produced for the tourist trade. It was the last of the great laces to be developed. Its gauzy appearance is the result of a delicate,

point de Paris, (French: “Paris lace”), product of a lace industry known to have existed around 1634 in the Île de France. No authenticated examples of this lace have been found, however. In modern usage, point de Paris has come to mean any bobbin-made lace with a six-pointed star mesh that is

Venetian needle lace: Rose point (point de rose) was less grandiose than gros point but even more ornamented with many little loops (picots) and rosettes; lace with more light bars of thread (brides) worked with such motifs as picots and stars like snowflakes was called point de neige…

Venetian needle lace, Venetian lace made with a needle from the 16th to the 19th century. Early examples were deep, acute-angled points, each worked separately and linked together by a narrow band, or “footing,” stitched with buttonholing. These points were used in ruffs and collars in the 16th and

Venetian needle lace: Point de Venise à réseau (“Venetian lace with a mesh”), imitated c. 1650 from French lace, had a mesh ground instead of bars. Lace making declined in Venice in the early 19th century but was revived in 1872 at nearby Burano.

crystal defect: Point defects include the Frenkel type, the Schottky type, and the impurity type. The Frenkel defect involves a single ion, which is displaced from its normal lattice point and shifts to a nearby interstice, or space, between atoms in the lattice. In the Schottky defect,…

point estimation, in statistics, the process of finding an approximate value of some parameter—such as the mean (average)—of a population from random samples of the population. The accuracy of any particular approximation is not known precisely, though probabilistic statements concerning the

hand tool: The Mousterian flake tools: …two principal kinds of flakes, points and scrapers. The former are roughly triangular, with two trimmed or sharp edges meeting in a point, the base or butt of the triangle being thick and blunt. The side scrapers have a sharp edge in the long direction of the flake, with an…

Point Four Program, U.S. policy of technical assistance and economic aid to underdeveloped countries, so named because it was the fourth point of President Harry S. Truman’s 1949 inaugural address. The first appropriations were made in 1950. The program was originally administered by a special

Gary Stevens: …in 2001, when he rode Point Given to a series of victories, most notably the Belmont and the Preakness. Stevens also raced in England and France, and arguably his most-notable win abroad was the 1999 Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at the British Royal Ascot.

point group, in crystallography, listing of the ways in which the orientation of a crystal can be changed without seeming to change the positions of its atoms. These changes of orientation must involve just the point operations of rotation about an axis, reflection in a plane, inversion about a

Ujung Kulon National Park, national park on the island of Java, in the province of Banten, Indonesia. It is best known as the last refuge of the one-horned Javan rhinoceros. A remote area of low hills and plateaus, with small lagoons and coastal dunes, it occupies 475 square miles (1,229 square km)

East African mountains: Physiography: …closely followed in height by Lenana (16,355 feet).

point mutation, change within a gene in which one base pair in the DNA sequence is altered. Point mutations are frequently the result of mistakes made during DNA replication, although modification of DNA, such as through exposure to X-rays or to ultraviolet radiation, also can induce point

Lope de Vega: Works of Lope de Vega: …the “point of honour” (pundonor) that Vega commended as the best theme of all “since there are none but are strongly moved thereby.” This “point of honour” was a matter largely of convention, “honour” being equivalent, in a very limited and brittle sense, to social reputation; men were expected…

John P. Marquand: …writing in his next novel, Point of No Return (1949), a painstakingly accurate social study of a New England town much like Newburyport. Two social types particularly important in the 1950s were depicted in Melville Goodwin, U.S.A. (1951), about a professional soldier, and Sincerely, Willis Wayde (1955), a sharply satiric…

Robert Fisk: His books included The Point of No Return: The Strike Which Broke the British in Ulster (1975), In Time of War: Ireland, Ulster and the Price of Neutrality, 1939–1945 (1983), Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War (2001), The Great War for Civilisation—the Conquest of the Middle East (2005),…

parliamentary procedure: Rules of parliamentary procedure: Points of order may be made while another has the floor and when the question concerns the use of unparliamentary language. The question must be raised at the time the proceeding giving rise to the objection occurs.