Simon Raven was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, known particularly for his satiric portrayal of the hedonism of the mid-20th-century upper classes of English society. Raven was educated at Charterhouse, Surrey, and King’s College, Cambridge. He resigned as an officer in the British

Simon Raven was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist, known particularly for his satiric portrayal of the hedonism of the mid-20th-century upper classes of English society. Raven was educated at Charterhouse, Surrey, and King’s College, Cambridge. He resigned as an officer in the British

Bela Lugosi: …including The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), and The Invisible Ray (1936), and he appeared occasionally in non-horror films, such as the Paramount Pictures all-star comedy International House (1933) and Ernst Lubitsch’s Ninotchka (1939).

Lou Reed: …packaged, with spoken-word interludes, on The Raven (2003)—an ambitious if critically panned experiment. It was followed by Animal Serenade (2004), an excellent live recording that echoed Reed’s landmark 1974 concert album Rock ’n’ Roll Animal. In 2006 Reed celebrated New York City in a book, Lou Reed’s New York, which…

The Raven, best-known poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1845 and collected in The Raven and Other Poems the same year. It is one of the greatest examples of American Gothic literature. Poe achieved instant national fame with the publication of this melancholy evocation of lost

Roger Corman: Edgar Allan Poe films: …Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven (1963), The Haunted Palace (1963), and The Masque of the Red Death (1964). All but one of the Poe films starred Vincent Price, and these films featured such other established actors as Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Ray Milland, and Peter Lorre.

traveler’s tree, (Ravenala madagascariensis), plant of the family Strelitziaceae, so named because the water it accumulates in its leaf bases has been used in emergencies for drinking. The fan of leaves also tends to grow roughly on an east-west line, providing a crude compass for travelers. This,

Oscar Wilde: Early life and education: …1878 with a long poem, Ravenna. He was deeply impressed by the teachings of the English writers John Ruskin and Walter Pater on the central importance of art in life and particularly by the latter’s stress on the aesthetic intensity by which life should be lived. Like many in his…

Ravenna, city, Emilia-Romagna regione, northeastern Italy. The city is on a low-lying plain near the confluence of the Ronco and Montone rivers, 6 miles (10 km) inland from the Adriatic Sea, with which it is connected by a canal. Ravenna was important in history as the capital of the Western Roman

itinerarium: The “Ravenna Cosmography,” probably of the 7th century, itemizes islands of the Atlantic and places and rivers of Asia, Africa, and Europe.

plume grass: …and several ornamental species, including Ravenna grass (S. ravennae).

The Battle of Ravenna, an engagement fought on April 11, 1512, is chiefly remembered for the tragic death of the brilliant young French commander Gaston de Foix. This loss overshadowed an extraordinary triumph for the French forces, which inflicted appalling casualties upon a largely Spanish Holy

Italy: Lombards and Byzantines: Its political center was Ravenna, which was ruled by a military leader appointed from Constantinople and called exarch from about 590. Exarchs were changed quite frequently, probably because military figures far from the center of the empire who developed a local following might revolt (as happened in 619 and…

St. Romuald of Ravenna ; feast day June 19) was a Christian ascetic who founded the Camaldolese Benedictines (Hermits). His feast day is celebrated on June 19, the anniversary of his death. Romuald’s father was a member of the Onesti ducal family. After witnessing with horror his father kill a

Ravensbrück, Nazi German concentration camp for women (Frauenlager) located in a swamp near the village of Ravensbrück, 50 miles (80 km) north of Berlin. Ravensbrück served as a training base for some 3,500 female SS (Nazi paramilitary corps) supervisors who staffed it and other concentration

Ravensburg, city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies along the Schussen River, just north of Lake Constance (Bodensee), northeast of Konstanz. Founded and chartered in the 12th century near the Guelfs’s ancestral castle (where Henry III [the Lion] was born) on the

Germany: Trade and industry: …and industry in the great Ravensburg Trading Company (1380–1530), which produced and exported Swabian linen and laid the foundation of the fortunes of the Höchstetter, Herwart, Adler, Tucher, and Imhof families. The most important independent concern was that of the Fuggers, whose founder, Hans Fugger, began his career as a…

George Ravenscroft was an English glassmaker, developer of lead crystal (or flint glass). It was a heavy, blown type (shaped by blowing when in a plastic state) characterized by brilliance, clarity, and high refraction. Ravenscroft was commissioned by the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers to

John Peel was a popular British disc jockey who for nearly 40 years, beginning in mid-1960s, was one of the most influential tastemakers in rock music. Peel was renowned for discovering and championing emerging artists and for his connoisseurship of groundbreaking offbeat music and performers. The

Thomas Ravenscroft was a composer remembered for his social songs and his collection of psalm settings. He took his bachelor of music degree at the University of Cambridge, possibly in 1605. From 1618 to 1622 he was music master at Christ’s Hospital. Ravenscroft’s Whole Booke of Psalmes (1621),

Nicholas Mosley was a British novelist whose work, often philosophical and Christian in theology, won critical but not popular praise for its originality and seriousness of purpose. Mosley graduated from Eton College (1942) and was an officer in the British army during World War II, after which he

Camilla Ravera was an Italian politician and leading figure in the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Ravera taught school in Turin (1908–09), and in 1918 she joined the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). She gravitated toward the left wing of the PSI under the leadership of Antonio Gramsci, wrote a column

Islamic arts: Islamic art under European influence and contemporary trends: …numerous buildings designed by Frenchman André Ravereau in Mali and Algeria. Furthermore, within the Muslim world emerged several schools of architects that adopted modes of an international language to suit local conditions. The oldest of those schools are in Turkey.

Surya, in Hinduism, both the Sun and the Sun god. Although in the Vedic period (1500–5th century bce) several other deities also possessed solar characteristics, most of these were merged into a single god in later Hinduism. Surya was once ranked along with Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, and Ganesha, and

Ravi River, in northwestern India and northeastern Pakistan, one of the five tributaries of the Indus River that give the Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) its name. It rises in the Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh state, India, and flows west-northwest past Chamba, turning southwest at the boundary of

Ravidas was a mystic and poet who was one of the most renowned of the saints of the North Indian bhakti movement. Ravidas was born in Varanasi as a member of an untouchable leather-working caste, and his poems and songs often revolve around his low social position. While objecting to the notion

South Asian arts: Marathi: …group of poets called the Ravikiraṇ Maṇḍal, who proclaimed that poetry was not for the erudite and sensitive but was instead a part of everyday life. Contemporary poetry, after 1945, seeks to explore man and his life in all its variety; it is subjective and personal and tries to speak…

valley: Valley evolution in Hawaii: …streams incise to form V-shaped ravines. The ravine systems eventually become sufficiently deep to expose deeper layers where groundwater activity and spring sapping become more important. The deepest incision produces U-shaped, theatre-headed valleys. Because the layered basalt flows are most permeable parallel to dip, there is efficient groundwater movement toward…

Marin Alsop: …conductor and curator of the Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, Illinois, though the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of her tenure until 2021.

Ravinia Park, one of the oldest outdoor summer music and cultural centres in the United States, located in Highland Park, Illinois, about 20 miles (30 km) north of downtown Chicago. It was established in 1904 on land purchased by the A.C. Frost Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago and Milwaukee

Jessie Bernard was an American sociologist who provided insights into women, sex, marriage, and the interaction of the family and community. Bernard attended the University of Minnesota (B.A., 1923; M.A., 1924) and married the sociologist Luther Lee Bernard in 1925. After obtaining her Ph.D. at

Marburgvirus: …is represented by two viruses, Ravn virus (RAVV) and Marburg virus (MARV). In humans, marburgviruses are responsible for Marburg virus disease (MVD), a zoonotic disease that is characterized by high fever, malaise, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and hemorrhage

Meïr Aron Goldschmidt: In Ravnen (1867; “The Raven”), one of the outstanding Danish novels of the 19th century, he depicts Jews with an unusual blend of sympathy and irony. Goldschmidt is an exquisite stylist, especially in his short stories. His philosophy of retributive justice, or nemesis, underlies most of…

Marburgvirus: …is represented by two viruses, Ravn virus (RAVV) and Marburg virus (MARV). In humans, marburgviruses are responsible for Marburg virus disease (MVD), a zoonotic disease that is characterized by high fever, malaise, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and hemorrhage

intelligence: India: …is a civilian service, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The RAW’s operations are for the most part confined to the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The RAW also has directed efforts in the United States aimed at influencing that government’s foreign policy.

Art Spiegelman: In 1980 he cofounded Raw, an underground comic and graphics anthology, with his wife, Françoise Mouly. In it the pair sought to present graphic novels and “comix” (comics written for a mature audience) to a wider public. Recognized as the leading avant-garde comix journal of its era, Raw featured…

myth: Music: …Cru et le cuit, 1964; The Raw and the Cooked) he explains that his procedure is “to treat the sequences of each myth, and the myths themselves in respect of their reciprocal interrelations, like the instrumental parts of a musical work and to study them as one studies a symphony.”…

coal mining: Levels of cleaning: …the product is commonly called raw coal.

Anthony Mann: The 1940s: film noirs: …the greatest of Mann’s noirs, Raw Deal (1948) was about a convict (Dennis O’Keefe) breaking out of prison to avenge himself on his partner (Burr) who had framed him. Mann also directed much of He Walked by Night (1948), about the manhunt for a cop killer. The film was shot…

marketing: Marketing intermediaries: the distribution channel: Manufacturers use raw materials to produce finished products, which in turn may be sent directly to the retailer, or, less often, to the consumer. However, as a general rule, finished goods flow from the manufacturer to one or more wholesalers before they reach the retailer and, finally,…

dairy product: Quality concerns: Raw milk is a potentially dangerous food that must be processed and protected to assure its safety for humans. While most bovine diseases, such as brucellosis and tuberculosis, have been eliminated, many potential human pathogens inhabit the dairy farm environment. Therefore, it is essential that…

Iggy and the Stooges: In 1973 the group released Raw Power, with production help from David Bowie, before disbanding the following year.

sericulture: Silk containing sericin is called raw silk. The gummy substance, affording protection during processing, is usually retained until the yarn or fabric stage and is removed by boiling the silk in soap and water, leaving it soft and lustrous, with weight reduced by as much as 30 percent. Spun silk…

sugar: Crystal separation and drying: This raw sugar, the sugar of commerce, is stored in bags in countries where labour is abundant and cheap. Generally, however, it is stored in bulk and shipped loose, like grain, in dry-bulk ships to areas where it will be refined.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Writer’s Diary and other works: …Grazhdanin to write Podrostok (1875; A Raw Youth, also known as The Adolescent), a relatively unsuccessful and diffuse novel describing a young man’s relations with his natural father.

Aegean civilizations: The mainland: …wanax, with a military leader, rawaketa, and troops with chariot officers attached for patrolling the borders; there also were naval detachments. The people had certain powers and a council. The towns were organized hierarchically under local officials, like the later “kings,” basileis.

Phoenix Islands: The group comprises Rawaki (Phoenix), Manra (Sydney), McKean, Nikumaroro (Gardner), Birnie, Orona (Hull), Kanton (Canton), and Enderbury atolls. They have a total land area of approximately 11 square miles (29 square km). All

Rawalpindi, city, Punjab province, northern Pakistan. It was the capital of Pakistan from 1959 to 1969. The city lies on the Potwar Plateau 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Islamabad, the national capital. Rawalpindi (“Village of Rawals”) occupies the site of an old village inhabited by the Rawals, a

Durand Line: …ended in 1919 with the Treaty of Rawalpindi, which enabled Afghanistan to regain control from Britain over its foreign policy and which reaffirmed the Durand Line as the official border between itself and the British Empire.

Hāshimīyah, Islamic religiopolitical sect of the 8th–9th century ad, instrumental in the ʿAbbāsid overthrow of the Umayyad caliphate. The movement appeared in the Iraqi city of Kūfah in the early 700s among supporters (called Shīʿites) of the fourth caliph ʿAlī, who believed that succession to

Elan Vital: …mission by his eight-year-old son Prem Pal Singh Rawat, who assumed the name Maharaj Ji, along with his father’s title, Perfect Master. A child prodigy, Rawat had been initiated into the mission at the age of six. He visited the West for the first time in 1971 and attracted many…

Zāwiyat al-Bayḍāʾ: …site of the tomb of Rawayfī ibn Thābit (a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad), it was planned as the future national capital. Although Zāwiyat al-Bayḍāʾ contains a parliament building, ministerial offices, a branch campus of Gar Younis University, and a centre for Islamic studies, Tripoli remains Libya’s capital. The town…

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st marquess of Hastings was a British soldier and colonial administrator. As governor-general of Bengal, he conquered the Maratha states and greatly strengthened British rule in India. Hastings joined the army in 1771 as an ensign in the 15th Foot. He served in the

Clint Eastwood: Early life and career: …in the popular TV western Rawhide (1959–65).

Henry Hathaway: Film noirs: The popular Rawhide (1951), with Power and Susan Hayward, was Hathaway’s first western in more than 15 years. Just as exciting was The Desert Fox (1951), which included a noteworthy turn by James Mason as German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Hathaway’s success continued in 1952 with Diplomatic…

rāwī, (Arabic: “reciter”), in Arabic literature, professional reciter of poetry. The rāwīs preserved pre-Islāmic poetry in oral tradition until it was written down in the 8th century. One or more rāwīs attached themselves to a particular poet and learned his works by heart. They then recited and

climate: Characteristics: …an operational worldwide network of rawinsonde observations. (A rawinsonde is a type of radiosonde designed to track upper-level winds and whose position can be tracked by radar.) Winds measured from Doppler-radar wind profilers, aircraft navigational systems, and sequences of satellite-observed cloud imagery have also been used to augment data from…

Jerry J. Rawlings was a military and political leader in Ghana who twice (1979, 1981) overthrew the government and seized power. His second period of rule (1981–2001) afforded Ghana political stability and competent economic management. Rawlings was the son of a Scottish father and a Ghanaian

Jerry J. Rawlings was a military and political leader in Ghana who twice (1979, 1981) overthrew the government and seized power. His second period of rule (1981–2001) afforded Ghana political stability and competent economic management. Rawlings was the son of a Scottish father and a Ghanaian

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was an American short-story writer and novelist who founded a regional literature of backwoods Florida. Marjorie Kinnan’s father, who worked for the U.S. Patent Office, died when she was age 17, and she moved with her mother to Madison, Wis. One of her childhood stories had

Rawlins, city, seat (1886) of Carbon county, south-central Wyoming, U.S. It lies just east of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,755 feet (2,059 metres). Founded in 1868 when the Union Pacific Railroad arrived, it was first named Rawlins Springs for U.S. Army Chief of Staff General John A.

Rawlins, city, seat (1886) of Carbon county, south-central Wyoming, U.S. It lies just east of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 6,755 feet (2,059 metres). Founded in 1868 when the Union Pacific Railroad arrived, it was first named Rawlins Springs for U.S. Army Chief of Staff General John A.

Walter Mosley: …in 1948, the novel introduces Ezekiel (“Easy”) Rawlins, an unwilling amateur detective from the Watts section of Los Angeles. It presents period issues of race relations and mores as the unemployed Rawlins is hired to find a white woman who frequents jazz clubs in Black districts.

Walter Mosley: …in 1948, the novel introduces Ezekiel (“Easy”) Rawlins, an unwilling amateur detective from the Watts section of Los Angeles. It presents period issues of race relations and mores as the unemployed Rawlins is hired to find a white woman who frequents jazz clubs in Black districts.

Rawlins: Army Chief of Staff General John A. Rawlins, who requested a freshwater spring there bear his name. In 1874 “Rawlins Red” pigment from the local paint mines was sent 2,000 miles (3,220 km) to be used on the Brooklyn Bridge. Rawlins has since become a railroad division point, a supply…

coin: Gold coinage: …horseback, made by the engraver Thomas Rawlins, employed at the Oxford Mint (1642–46) under its master, Thomas Bushell; the siege pieces rudely struck on silver plate at various Royalist strongholds show to what straits the king’s party was reduced. Under James I and Charles I are found the first English…

Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson was a British army officer and Orientalist who deciphered the Old Persian portion of the trilingual cuneiform inscription of Darius I the Great at Bīsitūn, Iran. His success provided the key to the deciphering, by himself and others, of Mesopotamian cuneiform script, a

Betsy Rawls was an American golfer who set a record by winning the U.S. Women’s Open four times (tied by Mickey Wright in 1964). Rawls began playing golf at 17, capping her amateur career by placing second in the 1950 U.S. Women’s Open behind the all-time great Babe Zaharias. Turning professional

Betsy Rawls was an American golfer who set a record by winning the U.S. Women’s Open four times (tied by Mickey Wright in 1964). Rawls began playing golf at 17, capping her amateur career by placing second in the 1950 U.S. Women’s Open behind the all-time great Babe Zaharias. Turning professional

John Rawls was an American political and ethical philosopher, best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his major work, A Theory of Justice (1971). He is widely considered the most important political philosopher of the 20th century. Rawls was the second of five children of William

John Rawls was an American political and ethical philosopher, best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his major work, A Theory of Justice (1971). He is widely considered the most important political philosopher of the 20th century. Rawls was the second of five children of William

Lou Rawls was an American singer whose smooth baritone adapted easily to jazz, soul, gospel, and rhythm and blues. As a child, Rawls sang in a Baptist church choir, and he later performed with Sam Cooke in the 1950s gospel group Teenage Kings of Harmony. In 1956 he stepped back from his burgeoning

Nāṣer-e Khusraw: His philosophical poetry includes the Rawshanāʾī-nāmeh (“Book of Light”). Nāṣer-e Khusraw’s most-celebrated prose work is the Safar-nāmeh (“Book of Travel”; Eng. trans. Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine), a diary describing his seven-year journey. It is a valuable record of the scenes and events that he witnessed. He…

Rawson, town and port, capital of Chubut provincia (province), southern Argentina. It lies along the Chubut River near the latter’s mouth, about 5 miles (8 km) upriver from the Atlantic Ocean coast. It was founded in 1865 by Welsh settlers and named for Guillermo Rawson (1821–90), then Argentine

Argentina: Transitional period: General Arturo Rawson was made president but resigned after two days when his anticonservative stance and his advocacy of the United Nations won no military support.

Rawson: …Welsh settlers and named for Guillermo Rawson (1821–90), then Argentine minister of the interior. Although the port has declined in importance, there are small installations for fisheries. The town and nearby beaches draw large numbers of summer tourists. Pop. (2001) 22,493; (2010 est.) 25,500.

Anglo-Zanzibar War: Battle: Rear Admiral Harry Rawson of HMS St. George sent an ultimatum to Khālid, instructing him and his troops to exit the palace grounds and surrender their arms by 9:00 am on August 27 or succumb to British firepower. Khālid refused, believing that the British would not follow…

Alan Rawsthorne was an English composer best known for his finely structured orchestral and chamber music written in a restrained, unostentatious style. Rawsthorne studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music (1926–30) and in Berlin (1930–31) with Egon Petri. His early music with its pervasive

Kiri Te Kanawa is a New Zealand lyric soprano best known for her repertoire of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss. As a five-week-old infant, she was adopted by Tom and Nell Te Kanawa and given the name Kiri. Tom, like her biological father, was Maori, and his wife, like Kiri’s

Rossendale: Rawtenstall is the largest town and the borough’s administrative centre.

Rayy, formerly one of the great cities of Iran. The remains of the ancient city lie on the eastern outskirts of the modern city of Shahr-e Rey, which itself is located just a few miles southeast of Tehrān. A settlement at the site dates from the 3rd millennium bce. Rayy is featured in the Avesta

Barry Hannah: …fully in the short novel Ray (1980). Hannah’s other novels include The Tennis Handsome (1983), which portrays the misadventures of a dissipated professional tennis player; Hey Jack! (1987); Never Die (1991), an offbeat treatment of the western genre; and Yonder Stands Your Orphan (2001), which tells the stories of a…

Slavic religion: Folk conceptions: …ears, a symbol of abundance; ray (“paradise”); and dobro (“the good”). The word bog is an Indo-Iranian word signifying riches, abundance, and good fortune. Sporysh symbolizes the same concept. In Iranian ray has a similar meaning, which it probably also had in Slavic languages before it acquired the Christian meaning…

Ray Charles: Honors: …subject of the acclaimed biopic Ray (2004), which starred Jamie Foxx in an Academy Award-winning performance.

wood: Rays and resin canals: A transverse section of trunk also shows linear features called rays radiating from pith to bark and ranging in width from very distinct, as in oak, to indistinct to the naked eye, as in pine and poplar. Certain softwoods, such as…

Tycho: …most extensive system of bright rays on the near side of the Moon. The rays, which are light-coloured streaks formed of material ejected from the impact, dominate the southern highlands and extend for more than 2,600 km (1,600 miles) across the Moon’s surface.

ray, any of the cartilaginous fishes of the order Batoidei, related to sharks and placed with them in the class Chondrichthyes. The order includes 534 species. Rays are distinguished from sharks by a flattened, disklike body, with the five gill openings and the mouth generally located on the

Asteraceae: Flowers: …a generally flat projection, the ray, or ligule. These rays are the petal-like parts, in a comparison of the flower head to an ordinary flower. The ray flowers in radiate heads are either pistillate (female) or neutral (with a vestigial, nonfunctional ovary and no style). The disk flowers in a…

Alan Alda: …Big C; The Blacklist; and Ray Donovan. He also appeared in the Web series Horace and Pete (2016), Louis C.K.’s comedy about the goings-on at a bar. In addition, Alda hosted the TV series Scientific American Frontiers from 1993 to 2007.

Born in the U.S. state of Indiana in 1873, Ray Ewry was afflicted in childhood with polio, a disease that forced his confinement to a wheelchair. A sympathetic doctor advised his parents that, with a strict program of exercise, Ewry might one day regain the use of his legs. Ewry did far better than

fern: Annotated classification: …cells; 2 genera (Schizaea and Actinostachys) with about 30 species, mostly tropical. Family Lygodiaceae Rhizomes long-creeping, hairy; leaves indeterminate in growth, climbing and often twining, the primary divisions alternate along the elongating stemlike rachis; sporangia often in 2 rows, densely spaced along specialized slender lobes of the ultimate segments, each…

Asteraceae: Flowers: …or more marginal rows of ray flowers, which have an irregular corolla. The corollas are tubular at the base but prolonged on the outer side into a generally flat projection, the ray, or ligule. These rays are the petal-like parts, in a comparison of the flower head to an ordinary…

electronic eavesdropping: …takes the shape of a ray gun that transmits radio waves or laser beams. The ray is directed at the object of the investigation from hundreds of feet away and can imperceptibly pick up a conversation and return it to the listener. The power necessary to transmit a laser beam…

David Carson: …publisher of the alternative-music magazine Ray Gun, and he hired Carson as art director in 1992. Over the next three years, with the help of Carson’s radical design vision, Ray Gun’s circulation tripled. Because Carson’s work clearly appealed to a youthful readership, corporations such as Nike and Levi Strauss &…

Pere Ubu: …to inspire the group, and Ray Gun Suitcase (1995) and Pennsylvania (1998) were viewed by many as worthy additions to the band’s critically acclaimed oeuvre. Later albums included St. Arkansas (2002); Long Live Père Ubu! (2009), from Thomas’s musical adaptation of Ubu roi, with the actress Sarah Jane Morris singing…

angiosperm: Secondary vascular system: The ray initials are isodiametric cells—about equal in all dimensions—and they produce the vascular rays, which constitute the horizontal system of secondary tissues; this horizontal system acts in the translocation and storage of food and water.

Jinny Beyer: …of her India-inspired designs, “Ray of Light,” took the grand prize in Good Housekeeping magazine’s 1977 Bicentennial quilt contest, which drew 9,954 entries, and it launched Beyer on her career. Her first book, Patchwork Patterns (1979), specialized in drafting techniques. Further books on quilt history and techniques include The…

Madonna: Music career of the late 1990s and 21st century: …new material in four years, Ray of Light. A fusion of techno music and self-conscious lyrics, it was a commercial and critical success, earning the singer her first musical Grammy Awards, among them the award for best pop album (her previous win had been for a video). She won another…

ray spider, any spider of the family Theridiosomatidae (order Araneida), known for their conelike webs. Most ray spiders are less than 3 mm (0.125 inch) in body length and are usually found near streams or in damp areas. The strands of the ray spider’s web extend outward in raylike groups of three

optics: Graphical ray tracing: In 1621 Willebrord Snell, a professor of mathematics at Leiden, discovered a simple graphical procedure for determining the direction of the refracted ray at a surface when the incident ray is given. The mathematical form of the law of refraction, equation (1) above,…