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Abraham Stern (inventor)
Abraham Jacob Stern (; 1762 or 1769 – 3 February 1842) was a Polish Jewish ''maskil'', inventor, educator, and poet. He is known for his mechanical calculators. Biography Abraham Stern was born in Hrubieszow to poor Jewish parents Miriam Liba () and Menachem Mendel Stern (). He received a traditional Jewish education, and trained as a watchmaker. His natural aptitude in the study of philosophy, languages, and mathematics was discovered by reformer Stanisław Staszic, who invited him to Warsaw to continue his studies. His first major invention was a mechanical calculator, perfected in 1817, which could calculate the square roots of numbers. This attracted wide attention, and led to his being elected in 1817 the first Jewish member of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science. In 1816, and again in 1818, he was presented to Tsar Alexander I, who granted him an annual pension of 350 rubles from the state treasury, promising, in case of his death, to pay half of this sum to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antoni Blank
Jan Antoni Blank (6 May 1785, in Olsztyn – 20 February 1844, in Warsaw) was a Polish painter in the Classical style who specialized in portraits and miniatures; many of which are in a style similar to Biedermeier. He often signed his paintings as Jan Antoni Blank-Białecki Biography He was born to the owner of a textile factory, but was orphaned at an early age and raised by the local postmaster. At the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to Józef Kosiński, who had been a court painter for King Stanisław II August. He remained in Warsaw until 1809, when he moved to Dresden, where he studied with the Austrian painter, Josef Grassi.Brief biography @ Encyklopedia Warmii i Mazur. Upon returning to Warsaw in 1815, he became curator of the plaster casts and drawing teacher of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the |
Square Root
In mathematics, a square root of a number is a number such that ; in other words, a number whose ''square'' (the result of multiplying the number by itself, or ⋅ ) is . For example, 4 and −4 are square roots of 16, because . Every nonnegative real number has a unique nonnegative square root, called the ''principal square root'', which is denoted by \sqrt, where the symbol \sqrt is called the ''radical sign'' or ''radix''. For example, to express the fact that the principal square root of 9 is 3, we write \sqrt = 3. The term (or number) whose square root is being considered is known as the ''radicand''. The radicand is the number or expression underneath the radical sign, in this case 9. For nonnegative , the principal square root can also be written in exponent notation, as . Every positive number has two square roots: \sqrt, which is positive, and -\sqrt, which is negative. The two roots can be written more concisely using the ± sign as \plusmn\sqrt. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studying is usually done through daily ''shiurim'' (lectures or classes) as well as in study pairs called '' chavrusas'' (Aramaic for 'friendship' or 'companionship'). ''Chavrusa''-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva. In the United States and Israel, different levels of yeshiva education have different names. In the United States, elementary-school students enroll in a ''cheder'', post- bar mitzvah-age students learn in a ''metivta'', and undergraduate-level students learn in a ''beit midrash'' or ''yeshiva gedola'' ( he, ישיבה גדולה, , large yeshiva' or 'great yeshiva). In Israel, elementary-school students enroll in a ''Talmud Torah'' or ''cheder'', post-bar mitzvah-age students l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Censorship In The Russian Empire
In the Russian Empire, government agencies exerted varying levels of control over the content and dissemination of books, periodicals, music, theatrical productions, works of art, and motion pictures. The agency in charge of censorship in the Russian Empire changed over time. In the early eighteenth century, the Russian emperor had direct control, but by the end of the eighteenth century, censorship was delegated to the Synod, the Senate, and the Academy of Sciences. Beginning in the nineteenth century, it fell under the charge of the Ministry of Education and finally the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The history of censorship in the Russia began long before the emergence of the empire. The first book containing an index of prohibited works dates to the year 1073, in Kievan Rus. For several centuries these were mere translations of censorship lists from other languages; the first authentic old Russian censorship index was created only in the fourteenth century. The number of indice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Judaism, Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most affiliates reside in Israel and the United States. Israel Ben Eliezer, the "Baal Shem Tov", is regarded as its founding father, and his disciples developed and disseminated it. Present-day Hasidism is a sub-group within Haredi Judaism and is noted for its religious conservatism and social seclusion. Its members adhere closely both to Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish practice – with the movement's own unique emphases – and the traditions of Eastern European Jews. Many of the latter, including various special styles of dress and the use of the Yiddish language, are nowadays associated almost exclusively with Hasidism. Hasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (; lt, Аdomas Jurgis Čartoriskis; 14 January 177015 July 1861), in English known as Adam George Czartoryski, was a Polish nobleman, statesman, diplomat and author. The son of a wealthy prince, he began his political career as a foreign minister to the Russian Tsar Alexander I after Poland was partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria. He later became a leader of the Polish government in exile and a bitter opponent of Alexander's successor, Tsar Nicholas I. In exile, he advocated for the reestablishment of a sovereign Polish state, which also stimulated early Balkan and Belgian nationalism, and intensified their desire for independence. Czartoryski was a dedicated patron of arts and greatly contributed to the Czartoryski Collection. In 1798, he purchased one of Poland's most important national treasures – Leonardo da Vinci's ''Lady with an Ermine'', which he brought as a gift for his mother from Italy. Early life and education Czartoryski was b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kippah
A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the customary requirement that the head be covered. It is worn by all men in Orthodox Jewish communities during prayers and by most Orthodox Jewish men at all other times. Among non-Orthodox Jewish communities, those who wear them customarily do so only during prayer, while attending a synagogue, or in other rituals, and often women may also wear them in those communities. Etymology The term ( he, כיפה) literally means "dome", as the kippah is worn on the head like a dome. The Yiddish term might be derived from the Polish or the Ukrainian , perhaps ultimately from Medieval Latin ("cowl, hood"). It may also be of Turkic origin (akin to , meaning "rainwear"); the word is often associated with the phrase (), formed from the Aramaic wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since. Orthodox Judaism, therefore, advocates a strict observance of Jewish law, or ''halakha'', which is to be interpreted and determined exclusively according to traditional methods and in adherence to the continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire ''halakhic'' system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, and beyond external influence. Key practices are observing the Sabbath, eating kosher, and Torah study. Key doctrines include a future Messiah who will restore Jewish practice by building the temple in Jerusalem and gathering all the Jews to Israel, belief in a future bodily resurrection of the dead, divine reward and punishment for the righteous and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sickle
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, either freshly cut or dried as hay. Falx was a synonym but was later used to mean any of a number of tools that had a curved blade that was sharp on the inside edge such as a scythe. Since the beginning of the Iron Age hundreds of region-specific variants of the sickle have evolved, initially of iron and later steel. This great diversity of sickle types across many cultures can be divided into smooth or serrated blades, both of which can be used for cutting either green grass or mature cereals using slightly different techniques. The serrated blade that originated in prehistoric sickles still dominates in the reaping of grain and is even found in modern grain-harvesting machines and in some kitchen knives. History Pre-Neolithic The d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-intensive activity of the growing season. On large mechanized farms, harvesting uses the most expensive and sophisticated farm machinery, such as the combine harvester. Process automation has increased the efficiency of both the seeding and harvesting processes. Specialized harvesting equipment utilizing conveyor belts to mimic gentle gripping and mass-transport replaces the manual task of removing each seedling by hand. The term "harvesting" in general usage may include immediate postharvest handling, including cleaning, sorting, packing, and cooling. The completion of harvesting marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop, and the social importance of this event makes it the focus of seasonal celebrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threshing Machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, threshing was done by hand with flails: such hand threshing was very laborious and time-consuming, taking about one-quarter of agricultural labour by the 18th century. Mechanization of this process removed a substantial amount of drudgery from farm labour. The first threshing machine was invented circa 1786 by the Scottish engineer Andrew Meikle, and the subsequent adoption of such machines was one of the earlier examples of the mechanization of agriculture. During the 19th century, threshers and mechanical reapers and reaper-binders gradually became widespread and made grain production much less laborious. Michael Stirling is said to have invented a rotary threshing machine in 1758 which for forty years was used to process all the corn on his f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary science and is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief, but also natural, artificial, and cultural features such as roads, land boundaries, and buildings. In the United States, topography often means specifically ''relief'', even though the USGS topographic maps record not just elevation contours, but also roads, populated places, structures, land boundaries, and so on. Topography in a narrow sense involves the recording of relief or terrain, the three-dimensional quality of the surface, and the identification of specific landforms; this is also known as geomorphometry. In modern usage, this involves generation of elevation data in digital form (DEM). It is often considered to include the graphic representation of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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