Skip this Advertisement

A-Z Browse

  • randomness (physics)
    ...laws. A more accurate term, “deterministic chaos,” suggests a paradox because it connects two notions that are familiar and commonly regarded as incompatible. The first is that of randomness or unpredictability, as in the trajectory of a molecule in a gas or in the voting choice of a particular individual from out of a population. In conventional analyses, randomness was......
  • randori (martial arts)
    ...meaning “gentle way”), the beginning of the sport in its modern form. Kanō eliminated the most dangerous techniques and stressed the practice of randori (free practice), although he also preserved the classical techniques of jujitsu (jūjutsu) in the ......
  • Randstad (region, The Netherlands)
    industrial and metropolitan conurbation occupying an area of peat and clay lowlands, west-central Netherlands. The Randstad (“Ring City,” “Rim City,” “City on the Edge”) consists of major Dutch industrial cities extending in a crescent (open to the southeast) from Utrecht in the east to Dordrecht in the south and inclu...
  • Randstad Holland (region, The Netherlands)
    industrial and metropolitan conurbation occupying an area of peat and clay lowlands, west-central Netherlands. The Randstad (“Ring City,” “Rim City,” “City on the Edge”) consists of major Dutch industrial cities extending in a crescent (open to the southeast) from Utrecht in the east to Dordrecht in the south and inclu...
  • Randulf de Blundeville, 6th Earl of Chester (English noble)
    most celebrated of the early earls of Chester, with whom the family fortunes reached their peak....
  • Randulf de Gernons, 4th Earl of Chester (English noble)
    a key participant in the English civil war (from 1139) between King Stephen and the Holy Roman empress Matilda (also a claimant to the throne of England). Initially taking Matilda’s part, he fought for her in the Battle of Lincoln (1141), capturing and briefly imprisoning Stephen. Later (1149) he transferred his allegiance to the king in return for a gr...
  • Ranelagh
    former resort by the River Thames in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. Land east of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, was bought in 1690 by Richard Jones, 3rd Viscount Ranelagh, later 1st earl of Ranelagh, who built a mansion and laid out gardens. Opened to the public in 1742, it became a fashionable resort, with its ornamental lake ...
  • Raney, James Elbert (American musician)
    ("JIMMY"), U.S. musician (b. Aug. 20, 1927, Louisville, Ky.--d. May 10, 1995, Louisville), was one of the most influential, lyrical jazz guitarists of his generation. As an improviser he was uniquely committed to melody, a devotion emphasized by his muted, lightly amplified electric guitar tone. He played with unusual rhythmic poise and freedom, constructing original solos with contrasting develop...
  • Raney, Jimmy (American musician)
    ("JIMMY"), U.S. musician (b. Aug. 20, 1927, Louisville, Ky.--d. May 10, 1995, Louisville), was one of the most influential, lyrical jazz guitarists of his generation. As an improviser he was uniquely committed to melody, a devotion emphasized by his muted, lightly amplified electric guitar tone. He played with unusual rhythmic poise and freedom, constructing original solos with contrasting develop...
  • Raney nickel
    ...the bond to the saturated carbon can be cleaved with sodium or lithium metal in liquid ammonia—for example, RSR′ + Na/NΗ3→ RSNa + R′−H. Using Raney nickel (Ra-Ni; a type of active nickel), carbon-sulfur bonds in sulfides can be replaced by hydrogen—for example, RSR′ + Ra-Ni → R−H + R′−H.......
  • Raney nickel desulfurization
    ...RSR′ + Ra-Ni → R−H + R′−H. These reduction reactions are useful in synthesis or in determining the structure of an unknown organosulfur compound. Raney nickel desulfurization was a key step in first establishing the structure of penicillin. The high polarizability of sulfur stabilizes a negative charge on the carbon adjacent to divalent......
  • Ranfurly Shield (sporting trophy)
    ...49 of its 74 matches, including many matches against clubs in the north of England that largely consisted of working-class players and that had become the best club teams in the country. In 1902 the Ranfurly Shield was presented by Earl Ranfurly, the governor of New Zealand, to serve as a trophy for a challenge competition between provincial rugby teams. The shield remains one of the most prize...
  • rangaku (Japanese history)
    (Japanese: “Dutch learning”), concerted effort by Japanese scholars during the late Tokugawa period (late 18th–19th century) to learn the Dutch language so as to be able to learn Western technology; the term later became synonymous with Western scientific learning in general. With the exception of the Dutch trading post on the island of ...
  • Rāngāmāti (Bangladesh)
    town, southeastern Bangladesh, situated in the Chittagong Hills region near the Karnaphuli River. Connected by road and river steamer with the city of Chittagong, the town is a rice-milling and cotton-weaving centre, and an agricultural market. It has a hospital and a government college affiliated with the University of Chittagong. Pop. (1981) 36,405....
  • Ranganatha (temple, Srirangam, India)
    Srīrangam is one of the most frequently visited pilgrimage centres in southern India. Its main Raṅganātha temple, though primarily Vaishnavite, is also holy to Śaivites. The temple is composed of seven rectangular enclosures, one within the other, the outermost having a perimeter more than 2 miles (3 km) in length. A remarkable feature of the temple is the Hall of a......
  • Ranganathan, Shiyali Ramamrita (Indian librarian)
    Indian librarian and educator who was considered the father of library science in India and whose contributions had worldwide influence....
  • Rangao language
    language of the North Bahnaric subbranch of Bahnaric, a branch of the Mon-Khmer family (itself a part of the Austroasiatic languages. Rengao is spoken by some 15,000 individuals in south-central Vietnam....
  • Rangavís, Aléxandros Rízos (Greek author)
    ...Koraïs. The work of these writers, which relied greatly on French models, looks back to the War of Independence and the glorious ancient past. Their melancholy sentimentality was not shared by Aléxandros Rízos Rangavís, a verbose but versatile and not inconsiderable craftsman of Katharevusa in lyric and narrative poetry, drama, and the novel. By the 1860s and ...
  • range (grazing land)
    any extensive area of land that is occupied by native herbaceous or shrubby vegetation which is grazed by domestic or wild herbivores. The vegetation of ranges may include tallgrass prairies, steppes (shortgrass prairies), desert shrublands, shrub woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, and tundras. Temperate and tropical forests that are used for grazing as well as timber production can also be consider...
  • range (ecology)
    ...Most vertebrates and some invertebrates, such as arthropods, including insects, exhibit territorial behaviour. Possession of a territory involves aggressive behaviour and thus contrasts with the home range, which is the area in which the animal normally lives. Home range is not associated with aggressive behaviour, although parts of the home range may be defended: in this case the defended......
  • range
    device used for heating or cooking. The first of historical record was built in 1490 in Alsace, entirely of brick and tile, including the flue. The later Scandinavian stove had a tall, hollow iron flue containing iron baffles arranged to lengthen the travel of the escaping gases in order to extract maximum heat. The Russian stove had as many as six thick-walled masonry flues; i...
  • range (geology)
    ...give rise to myriad mesoclimates and microclimates. This diversity over short horizontal distances is unmappable at the continental scale. Very little of a universal nature can be written about such mountain areas except to note that, as a rough approximation, they tend to resemble cooler, wetter versions of the climates of nearby lowlands in terms of their annual temperature ranges and......
  • range (economics and geography)
    ...the smallest market area necessary for the goods and services to be economically viable. Once a threshold has been established, the central place will seek to expand its market area until the range—i.e., the maximum distance consumers will travel to purchase goods and services—is reached....
  • range (detection system)
    ...are not of interest might be echoes from the ground or rain, which can mask and interfere with the detection of the desired echo from the aircraft. The radar measures the location of the target in range and angular direction. Range, or distance, is determined by measuring the total time it takes for the radar signal to make the round trip to the target and back (see below). The angular.....
  • range (particle radiation)
    in radioactivity, the distance that a particle travels from its source through matter. The range depends upon the type of particle, its original energy of motion (kinetic energy), the medium through which it travels, and the particular way in which range is further defined. Range applies especially to charged particles, such as electrons and alpha particles. Charged particles are slowed down chie...
  • range (statistics)
    A simple measure of variability is the range, given as the difference between the largest and the smallest results. It has no statistical significance, however, for small data sets. Another statistical term, the average deviation, is calculated by adding the differences, while ignoring the sign, between each result and the average of all the results, and then dividing the sum by the number of......
  • range (weaponry)
    ...so as to distribute the load evenly onto a railway track. The most impressive railway gun built during the war was the German 210-millimetre “Paris Gun,” which bombarded Paris from a range of 68 miles (109 kilometres) in 1918. Like many other railway guns, the Paris Gun was moved to its firing position by rail but, once in place, was lowered to a prepared ground platform....
  • range crane fly (insect)
    ...an arachnid.) Ranging in size from tiny to almost 3 cm (1.2 inches) long, these harmless, slow-flying insects are usually found around water or among abundant vegetation. The best-known species, the range crane fly (Tipula simplex), deposits its small black eggs in damp areas. Each egg hatches into a long slender larva, called a leatherjacket because of its tough brown skin. The larvae.....
  • range finder (instrument)
    any of several instruments used to measure the distance from the instrument to a selected point or object. One basic type is the optical range finder modeled after a ranging device developed by the Scottish firm of Barr and Stroud in the 1880s. The optical range finder is usually classified into two kinds, coincidence and stereoscopic....
  • range light
    ...ports, harbours, and estuarial approaches, fixed directional lights display sharply defined red and green sectors. Another sensitive and very accurate method of giving directional instruction is by range lights, which are two fixed lights of different elevation located about half a nautical mile apart. The navigator steers the vessel to keep the two lights aligned one above the other. Laser......
  • range management (ecology)
    Range management is a professional field whose aim is to ensure a sustained yield of rangeland products while protecting and improving the basic range resources of soil, water, and plant and animal life. Besides producing forage for domestic and wild animals, a range can provide timber, minerals, natural beauty, and recreational opportunities. Modern range management utilizes the concept of......
  • range, mountain (geology)
    ...give rise to myriad mesoclimates and microclimates. This diversity over short horizontal distances is unmappable at the continental scale. Very little of a universal nature can be written about such mountain areas except to note that, as a rough approximation, they tend to resemble cooler, wetter versions of the climates of nearby lowlands in terms of their annual temperature ranges and......
  • range of convergence (mathematics)
    ...converges toward the limit 1/(1 − x) as n, the number of terms, increases. The interval −1 < x < 1 is called the range of convergence of the series; for values of x outside this range, the series is said to diverge....
  • range of movement (warfare)
    The potential effectiveness of a military force derives from three attributes: fighting power, mobility, and range of movement. Which of these attributes is stressed depends on the commander’s objectives and strategy, but all must compete for available logistic support. Three methods have been used, in combination, in providing this support for forces in the field: self-containment, local.....
  • Range of Reason, The (work by Maritain)
    ...substantial parts; it cannot lose its individual unity, since it is self-subsisting, nor its internal energy since it contains within itself all the sources of its energies” (The Range of Reason, 1952). But though it is possible to define the soul in such a way that it is incorruptible, indissoluble, and self-subsisting, critics have asked whether there is any go...
  • range straggling (physics)
    ...because energy loss is a statistical phenomenon. Fluctuations are to be expected. In general, these fluctuations are called straggling, and there are several kinds. Most important among them is the range straggling, which suggests that, for statistical reasons, particles in the same medium have varying path lengths between the same initial and final energies. Bohr showed that for long path......
  • range zone (geology)
    ...their stratigraphic ranges and from widely separated areas, Oppel was able to erect a biochronology based on a diverse record of first appearances, last appearances, and individual and overlapping range zones. This fine-scale refinement of a biologically defined sense of succession found wide applicability and enabled not only biochronological (or temporal) but also biofacies (spatial)......
  • rangeland (grazing land)
    any extensive area of land that is occupied by native herbaceous or shrubby vegetation which is grazed by domestic or wild herbivores. The vegetation of ranges may include tallgrass prairies, steppes (shortgrass prairies), desert shrublands, shrub woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, and tundras. Temperate and tropical forests that are used for grazing as well as timber production can also be consider...
  • Ranger (yacht)
    ...architect who was designer, skipper, and navigator of the yacht Dorade, the winner of the 1931 Transatlantic and Fastnet races, and who was codesigner and relief helmsman of the J-class Ranger, the winner of the America’s Cup in 1937....
  • ranger (park management)
    In the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior established in 1916 a force of national-park rangers whose functions were protection and conservation of forests and wildlife, enforcement of park regulations (for which they have police power), and assistance to visitors. Similar functions with respect to the national forests were assigned to the rangers of the Forest Service,......
  • Ranger (space probe)
    any of a series of nine unmanned probes launched from 1961 to 1965 by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Project Ranger represented NASA’s earliest attempt at lunar exploration. Ranger 4 (1962) became the first U.S. spacecraft to hit the moon, crash-landing on its surface as designed. The last three probes in the series, Ranger 7, 8, and 9 (1964–...
  • ranger (military)
    in U.S. military usage, a soldier specially trained to act in small groups that make rapid surprise raids on enemy territory. Ranger has also been the designation for the Texas state constabulary and for national-park supervisors and forest wardens....
  • Ranger, Operation (United States tests)
    American tests during Operation Ranger in early 1951 included implosion devices with cores containing a fraction of a critical mass—a concept originated in 1944 during the Manhattan Project. Unlike the original Fat Man design, these “fractional crit” weapons relied on compressing the fissile core to a higher density in order to achieve a supercritical mass, thereby achieving.....
  • Rangertone (musical instrument)
    ...and Armand Givelet. It used electronic oscillators in place of the pipes of a conventional organ and was operated with keyboards and a pedal board. Another notable early electronic organ was the Rangertone (1931), invented by Richard H. Ranger of the United States. In 1934 the Orgatron was introduced by Frederick Albert Hoschke; in this organ, tone was generated by reeds that vibrated by......
  • rangga (art and religion)
    ...Arnhem Land maraiin objects—realistic and stylized carved representations of various natural species—were made. The rangga, or ceremonial poles, of eastern Arnhem Land, many of durable hardwood, bore ochre designs and long pendants of feathered twine. For mortuary rituals the Tiwi made large wooden......
  • Rangifer tarandus (mammal)
    species of deer (family Cervidae) found in the Arctic tundra and adjacent boreal forests of Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, and Canada. Reindeer have been domesticated in Europe. There are two varieties, or ecotypes: tundra reindeer and forest (or woodland) reindeer. Tundra reindeer migrate between tundra and fores...
  • Rangimotia (mountain, Mangaia, Cook Islands)
    ...of the southern group of the Cook Islands, a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. A raised coral atoll, it has a volcanic interior, rising to Rangimotia (554 feet [169 metres]), which is encircled first by a swampy region and then by coral limestone cliffs 200–300 feet (60–90 metres) high. Discovered (1777) by the English......
  • Rangiroa (island, French Polynesia)
    ...miles (689 square km) and consists of some 80 islands. These are low, flat islands or atolls of coral origin, surrounding a lagoon. Their size varies greatly, from 30 square miles (75 square km) in Rangiroa to a few acres of land barely protruding above the surface of the sea. With only porous, coral-based soils and with no permanent streams, they have no agricultural potential aside from the.....
  • Rangitake, Te (Maori chief)
    Maori chief whose opposition to the colonial government’s purchase of tribal lands led to the First Taranaki War (1860–61) and inspired the Maoris’ resistance throughout the 1860s to European colonization of New Zealand’s fertile North Island....
  • Rangitata River (river, New Zealand)
    river in east-central South Island, New Zealand. It is formed by the confluence of the Clyde and Havelock rivers, which rise in the Southern Alps. The river’s name is of Maori derivation and means “low sky.” The river passes through the Rangitata Gorge, in the Alpine foothills, and flows southeast for 75 miles (121 km), entering Canterbury Bight of the Pacific Ocean, 40 miles...
  • Rangitikei River (river, New Zealand)
    river in southwestern North Island, New Zealand. Rising on the east slopes of the Kaimanawa Mountains, it flows south and southwest for 150 miles (240 km) to enter South Taranaki Bight of the Tasman Sea, 60 miles (97 km) south of Wanganui. The river—with its principal tributaries, the Moawhango and Hautapu—drains a basin 1,230 square miles (3,190 square km) in area. Its upper course ...
  • Rangoli Bihu (Indian culture)
    The Bohag Bihu, celebrated in the spring (usually mid-April), marks the commencement of the new year (first day of the Bohag or Baishakh month). Also known as Rangoli Bihu (from rang, meaning merrymaking and fun), it is accompanied by much dancing and singing. The Magh Bihu, celebrated in mid-January (in the month of Magh), is a harvest festival. Known also......
  • Rangoon (Myanmar)
    city, capital of independent Myanmar (Burma) from 1948 to 2006, when the government officially proclaimed the new city of Naypyidaw the capital of the country. It is located in the southern part of the country on the east (left) bank of the Yangon, or Hlaing, River (eastern mouth of the Irrawaddy River), 25 miles (40 km) north of the Gulf of Martaban of the Andaman Sea. Yangon is the largest city ...
  • Rangoon College (university, Rangoon, Myanmar)
    Also in 1920 Rangoon College was raised to the status of a full university by the University Act. However, because the accompanying changes in the school’s administration and curriculum were viewed as elitist and exclusionary of the Burmese population, its students went on strike. Younger schoolchildren followed suit, and the general public and the Buddhist clergy gave full support to the.....
  • Rangoon River (river, Myanmar)
    marine estuary in southern Myanmar (Burma), formed at the city of Yangon (Rangoon) by the confluence of the Pegu and Myitmaka rivers. It empties into the Gulf of Martaban of the Andaman Sea, 25 miles (40 km) southeast. Linked west to the Irrawaddy River by the Twante Canal (first dug in 1883), it is the main access channel to Yangon and can accommodate oceangoing vessels....
  • Rangoon, University of (university, Rangoon, Myanmar)
    Also in 1920 Rangoon College was raised to the status of a full university by the University Act. However, because the accompanying changes in the school’s administration and curriculum were viewed as elitist and exclusionary of the Burmese population, its students went on strike. Younger schoolchildren followed suit, and the general public and the Buddhist clergy gave full support to the.....
  • Rangpur (India)
    town, eastern Assam state, northeastern India. Sibsāgar lies on the Dikhu River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, 30 miles (50 km) east-northeast of Jorhāt. The Tai-speaking Ahoms came to the area from Yunnan, China, in the 13th century ad. Sibsāgar was the capital of the Ahom kingdom in the 18th century, when it was called Rangpur; several temples remain from th...
  • Rangpur (Bangladesh)
    city, northwestern Bangladesh, on the Ghāghāt River. It is an industrial centre noted for the manufacture of dhurries (cotton carpets), bidis (cigarettes), and cigars. Constituted a municipality in 1869, it contains eight government colleges affiliated with the University of Rājshāhi; technical, agricultural, and primary teacher-training institutes; two parks; and two l...
  • Rani, Devika (Indian actress)
    Indian actress (b. March 30, 1908, Waltair, Andhra Pradesh, India--d. March 9, 1994, Bangalore, India), was one of India’s most esteemed movie stars in the 1930s and early ’40s and, with her husband, the filmmaker Himanshu Rai, was founder of Bombay Talkies studio. Rani was the grandniece of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore and the daughter of an eminent surgeon. Whil...
  • Rānī Gumphā (cave monastery, India)
    ...of Sūrya riding a chariot—are more advanced and resemble work at Buddh Gaya. The forms are heavy and solid and lack the accomplished movement of the later cave sculpture adorning the Rānī Gumphā monastery. These, like other sculptures here, are in a poor state of preservation, but they represent the finest achievements at the site. Most remarkable is a long......
  • Rani Lakshmi Bai (Indian ruler of Jhansi)
    The next phase was the central Indian campaign of Sir Hugh Rose. He first defeated the Gwalior contingent and then, when the rebels Tantia Topi and Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi had seized Gwalior, broke up their forces in two more battles. The rani found a soldier’s death, and Tantia Topi became a fugitive. With the British recovery of Gwalior (June 20, 1858), the revolt was virtually over....
  • Rani Rāsmanī’s Nabaratna (temples, Kāmārhāti, India)
    ...agglomeration. The city’s major industries include jute and cotton milling, leather tanning, and the manufacture of rubber goods, cement, pottery, and paint. It contains a group of temples, called Rani Rāsmanī’s Nabaratna, that are dedicated to the deities Kālī, Krishna, and Śiva. Formerly included in Baranagar city, Kāmārhāt...
  • Rania al-Abdullah (queen of Jordan)
    ...and 90th armoured brigades. In 1993 he was appointed deputy commander of the country’s elite Special Forces, a post he held until assuming the throne. That year ʿAbdullah married a Palestinian, Rania al-Yasin....
  • Rania al-Yasin (queen of Jordan)
    ...and 90th armoured brigades. In 1993 he was appointed deputy commander of the country’s elite Special Forces, a post he held until assuming the throne. That year ʿAbdullah married a Palestinian, Rania al-Yasin....
  • Ranidae (biology)
    family of wide-ranging frogs of the order Anura, containing several genera and more than 600 species. Representatives occur on every continent except Antarctica. Members of this group are referred to as the true frogs. Although most are aquatic or semiaquatic, a few ranids are ground burrowers or arboreal. Some species are live-bearers....
  • Raniero (pope)
    pope from 1099 to 1118....
  • Ranierus (pope)
    pope from 1099 to 1118....
  • Rānīganj coalfield (coalfield, India)
    The economy is mostly agricultural (cereals, pulse [legumes], oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, betel nut, date palm, and tea). The Rānīganj coalfields, some of the country’s largest, and adjacent deposits of iron ore, copper, lead, and zinc are used by the major iron and steel industrial complexes near Asansol and Durgāpur. Other industries produce cotton and silk textiles...
  • Raninae (amphibian subfamily)
    ...cartilages present or absent; larvae with single spiracle, on left, and complex mouthparts; 39 genera and about 600 species; adult length about 2–25 cm (1–10 inches); 2 subfamilies: Raninae (worldwide except for southern South America, southern and central Australia, New Zealand, and eastern Polynesia) and Petropedetinae (Africa).Fa...
  • ranitidine (drug)
    Another class of drugs that blocks gastric acid secretion is the H2 blockers (see below Histamine and antihistamines). These drugs (e.g., cimetidine, ranitidine) prevent histamine-induced acid release and are used for short-term treatment of gastroesophageal reflux and, in combination with antibiotics, for peptic ulcer disease....
  • Ranjit Singh (Sikh maharaja)
    founder and maharaja (1801–39) of the Sikh kingdom of the Punjab....
  • Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Kumar Shri (Indian athlete and ruler)
    one of the world’s greatest cricket players and, later, a ruler of his native state in India....
  • rank (of coal)
    The formation of coal from a variety of plant materials via biochemical and geochemical processes is called coalification. The nature of the constituents in coal is related to the degree of coalification, the measurement of which is termed rank. Rank is usually assessed by a series of tests, collectively called the proximate analysis, that determine the moisture content, volatile matter......
  • rank (military)
    The formation of coal from a variety of plant materials via biochemical and geochemical processes is called coalification. The nature of the constituents in coal is related to the degree of coalification, the measurement of which is termed rank. Rank is usually assessed by a series of tests, collectively called the proximate analysis, that determine the moisture content, volatile matter.........
  • rank (chess)
    Chess is played on a board of 64 squares arranged in eight vertical rows called files and eight horizontal rows called ranks. These squares alternate between two colours: one light, such as white, beige, or yellow; and the other dark, such as black or green. The board is set between the two opponents so that each player has a light-coloured square at the right-hand corner....
  • rank (music)
    ...pipes to produce the tone, a device to supply wind under pressure, and a mechanism connected to the keys for admitting wind to the pipes. The most basic instrument consists of a single set, or rank, of pipes with each pipe corresponding to one key on the keyboard, or manual. Organs usually possess several sets of pipes (also known as stops, or registers), however, playable from several......
  • Rank, J. Arthur Rank, Baron (British industrialist)
    British industrialist who became Great Britain’s chief distributor (and one of the world’s major producers) of motion pictures....
  • Rank of Sutton Scotney, Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron (British industrialist)
    British industrialist who became Great Britain’s chief distributor (and one of the world’s major producers) of motion pictures....
  • Rank, Otto (Austrian psychologist)
    Austrian psychologist who extended psychoanalytic theory to the study of legend, myth, art, and creativity and who suggested that the basis of anxiety neurosis is a psychological trauma occurring during the birth of the individual....
  • Ranke, Leopold von (German historian)
    leading German historian of the 19th century, whose scholarly method and way of teaching (he was the first to establish a historical seminar) had a great influence on Western historiography. He was ennobled (with the addition of von to his name) in 1865....
  • Rankeanism (historiography)
    ...attention? The founders of modern diplomatic history, beginning with Leopold von Ranke, propounded a view known as “the primacy of foreign policy.” Founded on German Idealist philosophy, Rankeanism asserted the primary influence of a state’s geography and external threats in the shaping not only of its foreign policy but of its internal military, political, and cultural ins...
  • ranket (musical instrument)
    (from German Rank, “bend”), in music, double-reed wind instrument of the 16th and 17th centuries. It consisted of a short wooden or ivory cylinder typically bored with nine extremely narrow channels connected in a series. In the earlier forms the cylindrically bored channels emerged at the side or bottom of the instrument; the Baroque instrument had a modified conical bore, an...
  • Rankin Inlet (Nunavut, Canada)
    ...hills and irregular basins mostly filled by lakes and swamps—and is largely a permafrost zone with Arctic tundra vegetation. The major settlements (Arviat, Baker Lake [Qamanittuaq], and Rankin Inlet [Kangiqtinq; the regional headquarters]), are economically dependent upon fur trapping, sealing, copper and gold mining, and handicrafts. The population is mostly Inuit. Pop. (2006)......
  • Rankin, James Lee (American lawyer)
    U.S. lawyer who successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation in public schools. He also served as U.S. solicitor general (1956-61) and was appointed counsel to the Warren Commission (1963-64), which investigated the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy (b. July ...
  • Rankin, Jeannette (American politician)
    first woman member of the U.S. Congress (1917–19, 1941–43), a vigorous feminist and a lifetime pacifist and crusader for social and electoral reform....
  • Rankin, John Morris (Canadian musician)
    Canadian musician (b. April 28, 1959, Mabou, Cape Breton Island, N.S.—d. Jan. 16, 2000, near Inverness, Cape Breton Island), was a master fiddler and pianist who, as leader of the Rankins, a musical group made up of members of his family, helped revive interest in North American Celtic music and culture; a child prodigy who was featured in the 1973 documentary film The Vanishing Cape Bre...
  • Rankin, Nell (American singer)
    American mezzo-soprano (b. Jan. 3, 1924, Montgomery, Ala.—d. Jan. 13, 2005, New York, N.Y.), was known for her warm tones in recitals and marquee opera roles during a 30-year career. Rankin made her public debut in a 1947 recital in New York City; her operatic debut was in the role of Ortrud in Lohengrin for the Zürich Opera Company in 1949. In 1951 Rankin made debuts at La Sc...
  • Rankine cycle (physics)
    in heat engines, ideal cyclical sequence of changes of pressure and temperature of a fluid, such as water, used in an engine, such as a steam engine. It is used as a thermodynamic standard for rating the performance of steam power plants. The cycle was described in 1859 by the Scottish engineer William J.M. Rankine....
  • Rankine temperature scale
    ...temperature scales related to the second law of thermodynamics. The absolute scale related to the Celsius scale is called the Kelvin (K) scale, and that related to the Fahrenheit scale is called the Rankine (°R) scale. These scales are related by the equations K = °C + 273.15, °R = °F + 459.67, and °R...
  • Rankine, William John Macquorn (Scottish engineer)
    Scottish engineer and physicist and one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics, particularly in reference to steam-engine theory....
  • Ranković, Alexander (Serbian political leader)
    ...attempt to enforce the collectivization of agriculture (which collapsed by 1953) created a markedly conservative and bureaucratic political apparatus exemplified by such party stalwarts as Alexander Ranković and Mijalko Todorović. Although Ranković was deposed in 1966 and a new reform-minded political culture began to develop, the politics that Ranković......
  • Ranks, Table of (Russian government)
    (Jan. 24, 1722), classification of grades in the Russian military, naval, and civil services into a hierarchy of 14 categories and the foundation of a system of promotion based on personal ability and performance rather than on birth and genealogy. This system, introduced by Peter I the Great, granted anyone who attained the eighth rank the status of a hereditary noble. It thus ...
  • Rannoch (region, Scotland, United Kingdom)
    geographic region in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland, composed mainly of moorland and lochs (lakes). The region includes Loch Rannoch, part of the Tummel-Ericht hydroelectric scheme, and, south of the loch, Rannoch Moor, a bleak windswept area of 20 square miles (52 square km) of heather and peat bog with a few surviving pines, relics of the original Caledonian Forest of Scot...
  • Ranoidea (amphibian superfamily)
    ...diapophyses dilated; intercalary cartilages absent; larvae lacking spiracle; Seychelles; 2 genera, 3 species; length about 4 cm (1.5 inches).Superfamily RanoideaPectoral girdle firmisternal; ribs absent; amplexus axillary; larvae with single sinistral spiracle and complex mouthparts or undergoing direct......
  • Ranoji Sindhia (Marāṭhā leader)
    Marāthā ruling family of Gwalior, which for a time in the 18th century dominated the politics of northern India. The dynasty was founded by Ranoji Sindhia, who in 1726 was put in charge of the Mālwa district by the peshwa (chief minister of the Marāthā state). At his death in 1750, Ranoji had established his capital at Ujjain; only later was the Sindhia capital....
  • Ranong (Thailand)
    town, southern Thailand, on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Ranong town is a fishing port in the Pakchan River estuary. Burma lies to the northwest, and there are highlands to the east. Ranong is also in a tin-mining region. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 18,000....
  • Ransier, Alonzo J. (American politician)
    black member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina during Reconstruction....
  • Ransier, Alonzo Jacob (American politician)
    black member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina during Reconstruction....
  • Ransmayr, Christoph (Austrian writer)
    ...victims of Nazism in the form of public monuments, German-language novels of the 1990s explicitly probe questions about how memories of the Nazi period can best be represented. The Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr’s powerful Morbus Kitahara (1995; The Dog King) is set in a dystopian landscape that resembles Mauthausen concentration camp...
  • Ransom, John Crowe (American poet and critic)
    American poet and critic, leading theorist of the Southern literary renaissance that began after World War I. Ransom’s The New Criticism (1941) provided the name of the influential mid-20th-century school of criticism (see New Criticism)....
Skip this Advertisement

Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.

If you think a reference to this article on "" will enhance your Web site, blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article, and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.

You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.

copy link

We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.

Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.

The Britannica Store
A-Z Browse

Image preview