mathematics: Geometry: For instance, the seked of a pyramid is stated as the number of palms in the horizontal corresponding to a rise of one cubit (seven palms). Thus, if the seked is 5 1 4 and the base is 140 cubits, the height becomes 93 1 3 cubits (Rhind…

gerbil: Natural history: The bushy-tailed jird (Sekeetamys calurus) of northeastern Africa and adjacent Asia has an extremely bushy tail tipped with white. Depending on the species, gerbils’ tails may be much longer than the head and body, about the same length, or shorter. Their fur is soft and dense,…

African literature: Southern Sotho: …the Southern Sotho language was Azariele M. Sekese, who gathered Sotho oral traditions and published them in Mekhoa ea Basotho le maele le litsomo (1893; “Customs and Stories of the Sotho”). He also wrote a popular animal story, Bukana ea tsomo tsa pitso ea linonyana, le tseko ea Sefofu le…

demotic script, Egyptian hieroglyphic writing of cursive form that was used in handwritten texts from the early 7th century bce until the 5th century ce. Demotic script derived from the earlier pictographic hieroglyphic inscriptions and the cursive hieratic script, and it began to replace hieratic

shikhara: … has two further variations: the shekhari and the bhumija. The shekhari consists of the central latina spires with one or more rows of half spires added on either side and miniature shikharas clustered along the base and corners. The shekhari was popular from the 10th century onward and can be…

Sekhmet, in Egyptian religion, a goddess of war and the destroyer of the enemies of the sun god Re. Sekhmet was associated both with disease and with healing and medicine. Like other fierce goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, she was called the “Eye of Re.” She was the companion of the god Ptah and

Siwa Oasis, oasis in Maṭrūḥ muḥāfaẓah (governorate), western Egypt. It lies near the Libyan frontier, 350 miles (560 km) west-southwest of Cairo. The oasis is 6 miles (10 km) long by 4–5 miles (6–8 km) wide and has about 200 springs. Two rock outcrops provide the sites of the old walled settlements

Şäki, city, north-central Azerbaijan. It is situated on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Range. Şäki, one of the oldest cities in Azerbaijan, was a trading centre on the road to Dagestan. In the 18th and 19th centuries it served as the capital of the khanate of Sheki, which was ceded to

Seki Takakazu was the most important figure of the wasan (“Japanese calculation”) tradition (see mathematics, East Asian: Japan in the 17th century) that flourished from the early 17th century until the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-19th century. Seki was instrumental in recovering

Seki Takakazu was the most important figure of the wasan (“Japanese calculation”) tradition (see mathematics, East Asian: Japan in the 17th century) that flourished from the early 17th century until the opening of Japan to the West in the mid-19th century. Seki was instrumental in recovering

Comet Ikeya-Seki: …amateur astronomers, Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu. Moving in a highly inclined retrograde orbit, the comet made its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on October 21, 1965, at a distance of 1.67 solar radius, or only 466,000 km (290,000 miles), above the Sun’s photosphere (visible surface). The comet was…

Battle of Sekigahara, (October 21, 1600), in Japanese history, a major conflict fought in central Honshu between vassals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku (“Warring States”) period. Led by daimyō Ishida Mitsunari, Toyotomi loyalists based mostly in western Japan clashed with largely

Torii Kiyonaga was one of the most important Japanese artists of the Ukiyo-e movement (paintings and wood-block prints of the “floating world”). He was the pupil of Torii Kiyomitsu and for a time headed the Torii school. So great, however, was his loyalty to the Torii family that he made his own

biblical literature: Slavic versions: …the Greek by the Lutheran Jan Seklucjan (Königsberg, 1553). The “Brest Bible” of 1563, sponsored by Prince Radziwiłł, was a Protestant production made from the original languages. A version of this edition for the use of Socinians (Unitarians) was prepared by the Hebraist Szymon Budny (Nieswicz, 1570–82), and another revision,…

Sekondi-Takoradi, port city on the Gulf of Guinea (an embayment of the Atlantic Ocean), southern Ghana. Both the Dutch and the British built forts at Sekondi in the 17th century that were destroyed by the Ahanta. Fort Orange, rebuilt by the Dutch and bought by the British in 1872, survives as a

Golkar, social and political organization in Indonesia that evolved into a political party after it was founded as the Sekretariat Bersama Golongan Karya (Joint Secretariat of Functional Groups) by a group of army officers in 1964. Golkar, established ostensibly to counterbalance the growing power

Shehu Ahmadu Lobbo was a Fulani Muslim leader in western Africa who established a theocratic state in the Macina region of what is now Mali. Influenced by the teachings of the Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio, he began a holy war (jihad) in 1818 or possibly as early as 1810. He defeated the forces

Shehu Ahmadu Lobbo was a Fulani Muslim leader in western Africa who established a theocratic state in the Macina region of what is now Mali. Influenced by the teachings of the Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio, he began a holy war (jihad) in 1818 or possibly as early as 1810. He defeated the forces

Karl Malden was an American actor who won critical acclaim for his strong character roles, ranging from psychologically intense villains to the earnest Everyman, most notably alongside Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954). Malden grew up in Gary, Indiana,

Orhan Veli Kanık was a poet who was one of the most innovative poets in 20th-century Turkish literature. Educated at the Faculty of Literature of Istanbul University, he worked briefly as a teaching assistant before joining the Turkish postal administration in Ankara (1936–42). From 1942 to 1945 he

Latin American Economic System (SELA), association formed to promote economic cooperation and development throughout the region of Latin America. Established in 1975 through the Panama Convention, SELA succeeded the Special Committee for Latin American Coordination (CECLA). Nearly 30 Latin American

Petra, ancient city, center of an Arab kingdom in Hellenistic and Roman times, the ruins of which are in southwest Jordan. The city was built on a terrace, pierced from east to west by the Wadi Mūsā (the Valley of Moses)—one of the places where, according to tradition, the Israelite leader Moses

shark, any of numerous species of cartilaginous fishes of predatory habit that constitute the order Selachii (class Chondrichthyes). Sharks, together with rays and skates, make up the subclass Elasmobranchii of the Chondrichthyes. Sharks differ from other elasmobranchs, however, and resemble

chondrichthyan, (class Chondrichthyes), any member of the diverse group of cartilaginous fishes that includes the sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras. The class is one of the two great groups of living fishes, the other being the osteichthians, or bony fishes. The name Selachii is also sometimes

seladang, Malayan wild cattle, a species of gaur

spike moss: …consists of a single genus, Selaginella. They are widely distributed in all parts of the world, particularly in the tropics. Many are forest plants; some grow on trees, but others thrive in dry or seasonally dry areas. (See also lycophyte and lower vascular plant.)

spike moss: Major species: caulescens) from East Asia.

spike moss: Major species: …as a houseplant, as are S. emmeliana from tropical America, variegated spike moss (S. martensii) from Mexico, blue spike moss (S. uncinata) from southern China, and handsome spike moss (S. caulescens) from East Asia.

spike moss: Major species: Spreading club moss, or Krauss’s spike moss (S. kraussiana), from southern Africa, roots readily along its trailing stems of bright green branches. It sometimes is grown as a houseplant, as are S. emmeliana from tropical America, variegated spike moss (S. martensii) from Mexico, blue spike…

spike moss: Major species: Resurrection fern, or false rose of Jericho, (S. lepidophylla), is so named because as an apparently lifeless ball it unrolls when the wet season begins. Spreading club moss, or Krauss’s spike moss (S. kraussiana), from southern Africa, roots readily along its trailing stems of bright green branches. It…

spike moss: Major species: …America, variegated spike moss (S. martensii) from Mexico, blue spike moss (S. uncinata) from southern China, and handsome spike moss (S. caulescens) from East Asia.

spike moss: Major species: The similar rock selaginella (S. rupestris) of North America has smaller leaves, and its branching stems grow on rocks or in sand. Resurrection fern, or false rose of Jericho, (S. lepidophylla), is so named because as an apparently lifeless ball it unrolls when the wet season begins.…

spike moss: Major species: Lesser club moss, or club spike moss, (Selaginella selaginoides), is a small forest and bog-side plant in northern North America and Eurasia. Its branches trail along the ground, but the upright yellow-green strobili rise up to 8 cm (about 3 inches). The similar rock selaginella…

spike moss: Major species: …Mexico, blue spike moss (S. uncinata) from southern China, and handsome spike moss (S. caulescens) from East Asia.

spike moss, (family Selaginellaceae), family of more than 700 species of mossy or fernlike seedless vascular plants of the order Selaginellales. The family consists of a single genus, Selaginella. They are widely distributed in all parts of the world, particularly in the tropics. Many are forest

lycophyte: Annotated classification: Order Selaginellales (spike mosses) Living and extinct plants with primary growth only; heterosporous; the sole living genus is Selaginella, with more than 700 species, widely distributed around the world; Selaginellites is an extinct genus. Order Isoetales

lycophyte: Annotated classification: …widely distributed around the world; Selaginellites is an extinct genus. Order Isoetales (quillworts) Living and extinct plants with secondary growth; heterosporous, with endosporic gametophytes; Isoetites is an extinct genus; for many years the species of

Selayar, largest of an island group off the southwestern tip of Celebes (Sulawesi), which is administered from Makassar as part of South Sulawesi propinsi (province), Indonesia. The other islands are Pasi, Bahuluang, Pulasi, and Tambulongang. All the islands are mountainous, but fertile lowlands

Sigfrid Siwertz: …for the novel Selambs (1920; Downstream) and for his short stories.

Selandian Stage, division of Paleocene rocks, representing all rocks deposited worldwide during the Selandian Age (61.6 million to 59.2 million years ago) of the Paleogene Period (66 million to 23 million years ago). The Selandian Stage is named for marine strata in the Seeland region of Denmark.

Selangor, region of western West Malaysia (Malaya), occupying part of a coastal alluvial plain on the Strait of Malacca. In 1974, a 94-square-mile (243-square-kilometre) portion of Selangor, centring on Kuala Lumpur, was designated a wilayapersekutuan (federal territory). Selangor’s history and

Selangor Civil War, (1867–73), series of conflicts initially between Malay chiefs but later involving Chinese secret societies for control of tin-rich districts in Selangor. Following the disputed recognition of Abdul Samad as sultan in 1860, Malay chiefs gradually became polarized into two

Tanimbar Islands: …vegetation along the shore, and Selaru to the south of Yamdena, rather flat and with much grassland. The group, the total area of which is some 2,100 square miles (5,439 square km), lies outside the zone of historic volcanic activity. Because there are few rivers, there is a lack of…

hummingbird: The broad-tailed hummingbird (S. platycercus) breeds in the western United States and Central America and the Allen’s hummingbird breeds in the coastal regions of California.

hummingbird: …hummingbird is the rufous (Selasphorus rufus), which breeds from southeastern Alaska to northern California. The broad-tailed hummingbird (S. platycercus) breeds in the western United States and Central America and the Allen’s hummingbird breeds in the coastal regions of California.

hummingbird: …and Central America and the Allen’s hummingbird breeds in the coastal regions of California.

Haile Selassie I was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 who sought to modernize his country and who steered it into the mainstream of post-World War II African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations and made Addis Ababa the major centre for the

Sahle Selassie was the ruler (1813–47) of the kingdom of Shewa (Shoa), Ethiopia. He was the grandfather of Emperor Menilek II (reigned 1889–1913) and the great-grandfather of Emperor Haile Selassie I. His name means “Clemency of the Trinity.” A member of the Amhara royal family, Sahle Selassie

Makassar Strait, narrow passage of the west-central Pacific Ocean, Indonesia. Extending 500 miles (800 km) northeast–southwest from the Celebes Sea to the Java Sea, the strait passes between Borneo on the west and Celebes on the east and is 80 to 230 miles (130 to 370 km) wide. It is a deep

Sunda Strait, channel, 16–70 miles (26–110 km) wide, between the islands of Java (east) and Sumatra, that links the Java Sea (Pacific Ocean) with the Indian Ocean (south). There are several volcanic islands within the strait, the most famous of which is Krakatoa, which erupted on August 27, 1883,

Selayar, largest of an island group off the southwestern tip of Celebes (Sulawesi), which is administered from Makassar as part of South Sulawesi propinsi (province), Indonesia. The other islands are Pasi, Bahuluang, Pulasi, and Tambulongang. All the islands are mountainous, but fertile lowlands

Atle Selberg: …the study of sieves—particularly the Selberg sieve—which are generalizations of Eratosthenes’ method for locating prime numbers. In 1949 he gave an elementary (but by no means simple) proof of the prime number theorem, a result that had theretofore required advanced theorems from analysis. Many of Selberg’s papers were published in…

Atle Selberg was a Norwegian-born American mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1950 for his work in number theory. In 1986 he shared (with Samuel Eilenberg) the Wolf Prize. Selberg attended the University of Oslo (Ph.D., 1943) and remained there as a research fellow until 1947. He

Roundell Palmer, 1st earl of Selborne was a British lord high chancellor (1872–74, 1880–85) who almost singlehandedly drafted a comprehensive judicial-reform measure, the Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1873. Under this statute, the complex duality of English court systems—common law and

Roundell Palmer, 1st earl of Selborne was a British lord high chancellor (1872–74, 1880–85) who almost singlehandedly drafted a comprehensive judicial-reform measure, the Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1873. Under this statute, the complex duality of English court systems—common law and

William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd earl of Selborne was the first lord of the Admiralty (1900–05) in Great Britain and high commissioner for South Africa (1905–10). He helped initiate the rebuilding of the fleet into a force strong enough to oppose a greatly expanded German navy in World War I and

William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd earl of Selborne was the first lord of the Admiralty (1900–05) in Great Britain and high commissioner for South Africa (1905–10). He helped initiate the rebuilding of the fleet into a force strong enough to oppose a greatly expanded German navy in World War I and

Otto Perl: …author and cofounder of the Selbsthilfebund der Körperbehinderten (Self-Help Alliance of the Physically Handicapped, or Otto Perl Alliance; 1919–31), the first emancipatory self-help organization representing the interests of the physically disabled in Germany.

Selby, town (parish) and district, administrative county of North Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, northern England, just south of York. It lies mainly in the floodplain of the Rivers Aire and Ouse. The district includes pre-Norman settlements along the right bank of the River Ouse, the

Selby: district, administrative county of North Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, northern England, just south of York. It lies mainly in the floodplain of the Rivers Aire and Ouse.

Kid McCoy was an American professional boxer whose trickery and cruelty in the ring made him an infamous figure in boxing history. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) A former sparring partner of welterweight champion Tommy Ryan, McCoy pleaded with Ryan for a title match as a

Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who was the prototype of the marooned traveler in Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). The son of a shoemaker, Selkirk ran away to sea in 1695; he joined a band of buccaneers in the Pacific and by 1703 was sailing master of a galley on a privateering

patent troll: American inventor George Selden is frequently cited as an early example of a patent troll. From 1903 to 1911, Selden, who never built a car, used his patent on the automobile to collect royalties from other automobile companies. In information technology, a series of rulings in American…

John Selden was a legal antiquarian, Orientalist, and politician who was the leading figure in the Antiquarian Society, the centre of English historical research during the 17th century. Called to the bar in 1612, Selden practiced as a conveyancer, rarely appearing in court. His first major book,

George Seldes was an American journalist. He became a reporter in 1909. From 1918 to 1928 he worked for the Chicago Tribune; he quit to pursue independent journalism. In You Can’t Print That (1928) he criticized censorship and strictures on journalists, a continuing theme in his career. He reported

angiography: …early 1950s by Swedish cardiologist Sven-Ivar Seldinger.

Selebi-Phikwe, mining town, eastern Botswana. Selebi-Phikwe is located 62 miles (100 km) southeast of Francistown. Situated in the centre of a large copper-nickel mine and a smelter complex, it was one of the fastest-growing towns in the country in the late 20th century, although its growth has

Selebi-Phikwe, mining town, eastern Botswana. Selebi-Phikwe is located 62 miles (100 km) southeast of Francistown. Situated in the centre of a large copper-nickel mine and a smelter complex, it was one of the fastest-growing towns in the country in the late 20th century, although its growth has

Rock criticism: such as Q, Mojo, and Select. These glossy monthlies took a markedly different approach to rock journalism, replacing confrontational interviews and expansive think pieces with star profiles and short, consumer-oriented record reviews. British readers who craved writing with reach and edge were forced to look to specialist magazines such as…

Robert Burns: After Edinburgh: …first five volumes of Thomson’s A Select Collection of Original Scotish Airs for the Voice (1793–1818) contain the bulk of Burns’s songs. Burns spent the latter part of his life in assiduously collecting and writing songs to provide words for traditional Scottish airs. He regarded his work as service to…

The Supreme Court of the United States is the final court of appeal and final expositor of the Constitution of the United States, and, as such, it makes decisions that have far-reaching consequences on issues ranging from freedom of speech to commerce. The table provides a list of select milestone

Gary Snyder: In addition, The Selected Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder and Distant Neighbors: The Selected Letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder were published in 2009 and 2014, respectively.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: Feldman and Diana Scott-Kilvert, and Selected Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1995), edited by Betty T. Bennett.

Ralph Ellison: The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison was released in 2019.

Rebecca West: Selected Letters of Rebecca West, edited by Bonnie Kime Scott, was published in 2000. The critic and author Anthony West was the son of Dame Rebecca and the English novelist H.G. Wells.

Willa Cather: …and 566 were collected in The Selected Letters of Willa Cather (2013).

William Styron: …to My Father (2009) and Selected Letters of William Styron (2012).

Nikolay Gogol: Creative decline of Nikolay Gogol: …iz perepiski s druzyami (1847; Selected Passages from Correspondence with My Friends), a collection of 32 discourses eulogizing not only the conservative official church but also the very powers that he had so mercilessly condemned only a few years before. It is no wonder that the book was fiercely attacked…

Derek Walcott: The verse in Selected Poems (1964), The Castaway (1965), and The Gulf (1969) is similarly lush in style and incantatory in mood as Walcott expresses his feelings of personal isolation, caught between his European cultural orientation and the black folk cultures of his native Caribbean. Another Life (1973)…

Conrad Aiken: …his poetry is contained in Selected Poems (1929), which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1930, and Collected Poems (1953), including a long sequence “Preludes to Definition,” which some critics consider his masterwork, and the often anthologized “Morning Song of Senlin.” Aiken served as the poetry consultant to the…

Gwendolyn Brooks: In the Mecca: Brooks published Selected Poems in 1963, followed in 1968 by In the Mecca, half of which is a long narrative poem about people in the Mecca, a vast, fortresslike apartment building erected on the South Side of Chicago in 1891, which had long since deteriorated into a…

James Tate: His Selected Poems (1991), which includes poetry from nine of his previous volumes, won the Pulitzer Prize, and Worshipful Company of Fletchers (1994) received the National Book Award. In 1995 he won the Academy of American Poets’ Wallace Stevens Award. Tate’s later collections include Memoir of…

Stanley Kunitz: …some 30 new poems in Selected Poems 1928–1958 (1958), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1959.

Rosario Castellanos: , The Selected Poems, by Magda Bogin), a polemical allusion to a well-known verse by Spanish Romantic poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, in which he tells his beloved that she is poetry.

Shirley Ann Grau: … (1973), Nine Women (1985), and Selected Stories (2003).

Roman Jakobson: Jakobson’s Selected Writings, 6 vol. (1962–71), are concerned with phonological studies, the word, language, poetry, grammar, Slavic epic studies, ties, and traditions. His The Sound Shape of Language, with Linda R. Waugh, was published in 1979.

selection, in biology, the preferential survival and reproduction or preferential elimination of individuals with certain genotypes (genetic compositions), by means of natural or artificial controlling factors. The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred

selection coefficient, in genetics, a measure of the relative reduction in the contribution that a particular genotype (genetic composition) makes to the gametes (sex cells) as compared with another genotype in the population. It expresses the relative advantage or disadvantage of specific traits

selection rule, in quantum mechanics, any of a set of restrictions governing the likelihood that a physical system will change from one state to another or will be unable to make such a transition. Selection rules, accordingly, may specify “allowed transitions,” those that have a high probability

GPS: Triangulation: …2000, a feature known as selective availability (S/A) intentionally degraded the civilian signal’s accuracy; S/A was terminated in part because of safety concerns related to the increasing use of GPS by civilian marine vessels and aircraft. Unaugmented civilian GPS now gives an error variance, for horizontal distances, of 30 metres…

selective breeding, the practice of mating individuals with desired traits as a means of increasing the frequency of those traits in a population. In selective breeding, the breeder attempts to isolate and propagate the genotypes (genetic constitutions) that are responsible for an organism’s

library: Current-awareness service: …have adopted a practice of selective dissemination of information (sometimes referred to as SDI), whereby librarians conduct regular searches of databases to find references to new articles or other materials that fit a particular patron’s interest profile and forward the results of these searches to the patron.

antiestrogen: Selective estrogen-receptor modulators (SERMs), such as tamoxifen and raloxifene, produce estrogen action in those tissues (e.g., bone, brain, liver) where that action is beneficial and have either no effect or an antagonistic effect in tissues, such as the breast and uterus, where estrogen action may…

selective feeding, food procurement in which the animal exercises choice over the type of food being taken, as opposed to filter feeding, in which food is taken randomly. Selective feeders may be broadly divided into herbivores and carnivores, which take plant and animal food, respectively, and

collective action problem: The challenges of common goods: …groups by the use of selective incentives. These selective incentives might be extra rewards contingent upon taking part in the action or penalties imposed on those who do not. However, in order for positive selective incentives to work, individuals who take part in collective action must be identified; and for…

3D printing: A related process is called selective laser sintering (SLS); here the nozzle head and liquid binder are replaced by precisely guided lasers that heat the powder so that it sinters, or partially melts and fuses, in the desired areas. Typically, SLS works with either plastic powder or a combined metal-binder…

assortative mating, in human genetics, a form of nonrandom mating in which pair bonds are established on the basis of phenotype (observable characteristics). For example, a person may choose a mate according to religious, cultural, or ethnic preferences, professional interests, or physical traits.

antidepressant: SSRIs were introduced in the 1980s, and shortly thereafter they became some of the most commonly used antidepressants, primarily because they have fewer side effects than tricyclics or MAOIs. SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft). SSRIs are also used in the treatment…

conscription: …form—even during total war—has been selective service.

Enoch Herbert Crowder: …officer and administrator of the Selective Service Act in World War I.