Sir Humphry Davy: Early life: ” He was befriended by Davies Giddy (later Gilbert; president of the Royal Society, 1827–30), who offered him the use of his library in Tradea and took him to a chemistry laboratory that was well equipped for that day. There he formed strongly independent views on topics of the moment,…

Minnie Pearl: …her records, the single "Giddyup—Go Answer" (1966), became a top-10 country hit.

André Gide was a French writer, humanist, and moralist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947. Gide was the only child of Paul Gide and his wife, Juliette Rondeaux. His father was of southern Huguenot peasant stock; his mother, a Norman heiress, although Protestant by upbringing,

André Gide was a French writer, humanist, and moralist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947. Gide was the only child of Paul Gide and his wife, Juliette Rondeaux. His father was of southern Huguenot peasant stock; his mother, a Norman heiress, although Protestant by upbringing,

Gideon, a judge and hero-liberator of Israel whose deeds are described in the Book of Judges. The author apparently juxtaposed two traditional accounts from his sources in order to emphasize Israel’s monotheism and its duty to destroy idolatry. Accordingly, in one account Gideon led his clansmen of

Paddy Chayefsky: …The Tenth Man (1959) and Gideon (1961), were on religious themes and attacked contemporary cynicism, while The Passion of Josef D. (1964) was a treatment of Joseph Stalin and the Russian Revolution. The Latent Heterosexual (published 1967; performed 1968) tells of a successful homosexual author who marries for tax purposes…

Gideon v. Wainwright, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 18, 1963, ruled (9–0) that states are required to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants charged with a felony. The case centred on Clarence Earl Gideon, who had been charged with a felony for allegedly burglarizing a pool

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout: …earliest signed works, such as Gideon’s Sacrifice (1647), show the clear influence of Rembrandt in their subjects as well as in their brushwork and use of chiaroscuro. In their concern with light and atmosphere in landscape, they also owe something to Rembrandt’s teacher Pieter Lastman, with whom van den Eeckhout…

Gideons International, organization of Protestant business and professional lay men that places copies of the Bible or New Testament in hotel rooms, hospitals, penal institutions, schools, and other locations. Organized by three travelling salesmen in Janesville, Wis., on July 1, 1899, the

Television in the United States: Escapism: …1965–66 season reflects this transformation: Gidget (ABC, 1965–66), a beach comedy about an energetic 15-year-old playing in the California sun; F Troop (ABC, 1965–67), which offered up an assortment of Native American stereotypes in a comedy set at a military fort in the post-Civil War West; I Dream of Jeannie…

Melbourne: Early settlement: …Wales, and the colony’s governor, Philip Gidley King, instructed the surveyor-general, Charles Grimes, to examine the shores of the bay with a view to identifying sites for future settlement. In 1803 Grimes and his party discovered the Yarra River and traveled along its lower course. Unlike some members of the…

International Space Station: Russian cosmonauts Sergey Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko and American astronaut William Shepherd, who flew up in a Soyuz spacecraft. The ISS has been continuously occupied since then. A NASA microgravity laboratory called Destiny and other elements were subsequently joined to the station, with the overall plan calling for the assembly,…

Marcel Breuer: For the Swiss architectural historian Sigfried Giedion, he designed the Dolderthal Apartments, Zürich (built 1934–36). During his two years of architectural practice in London, in partnership with F.R.S. Yorke, he designed for the Isokon firm some laminated plywood furniture that became widely imitated. In 1937 he went to Harvard University…

John Gielgud was an English actor, producer, and director, who is considered one of the greatest performers of his generation on stage and screen, particularly as a Shakespearean actor. He was knighted in 1953 for services to the theatre. (Click here to hear Gielgud reading from A Midsummer Night’s

John Gielgud was an English actor, producer, and director, who is considered one of the greatest performers of his generation on stage and screen, particularly as a Shakespearean actor. He was knighted in 1953 for services to the theatre. (Click here to hear Gielgud reading from A Midsummer Night’s

cytogenetics: …various staining techniques, such as Giemsa banding (G-banding), quinacrine banding (Q-banding), reverse banding (R-banding), constitutive heterochromatin (or centromere) banding (C-banding), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). G-banding is one of the most-used chromosomal staining methods. In this approach, chromosomes are first treated

herpes simplex: HSV-2: The Pap smear and Giemsa smear are two techniques commonly used to diagnose genital herpes. There is a blood test to measure the level of antibodies to the virus, but its results are not always conclusive.

Elfriede Jelinek: …Lust, 1992), and Gier (2000; Greed, 2006). Her most notable plays included Was geschah, nachdem Nora ihren Mann verlassen hatte; oder, Stützen der Gesellschaften (1980; What Happened After Nora Left Her Husband; or, Pillars of Society, 1994), which she wrote as a sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House; Clara…

Edward Gierek was a Communist Party organizer and leader in Poland, who served as first secretary from 1970 to 1980. After his father, a coal miner, was killed in a mine disaster in Silesia, Gierek emigrated with his mother to France, where in 1931 he joined the French Communist Party. In 1937 he

Otto Friedrich von Gierke was a legal philosopher who was a leader of the Germanist school of historical jurisprudence in opposition to the Romanist theoreticians of German law (e.g., Friedrich Karl von Savigny). An incomplete knowledge of his work led some advocates of a pluralistic, decentralized

Nikolay Karlovich Giers was a statesman and foreign minister of Russia during the reign of Alexander III (ruled 1881–94). He guided Russia into a rapprochement with France and thereby formed the basis of the Russo-Franco-British alliance that fought against the Central Powers in World War I. Having

Anne Frank: …few non-Jewish friends, among them Miep Gies, who smuggled in food and other supplies, the Frank family and four other Jews—Hermann and Auguste van Pels and their son, Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer—lived confined to the “secret annex.” During this time, Anne wrote faithfully in her diary, recounting day-to-day life in…

Wilhelm von Giesebrecht was a German historian, author of the first general history of medieval Germany based on modern critical methods, and a student of Leopold von Ranke. In 1857 Giesebrecht became professor at Königsberg and in 1862 succeeded Heinrich von Sybel at Munich. In Geschichte der

Wilhelm von Giesebrecht was a German historian, author of the first general history of medieval Germany based on modern critical methods, and a student of Leopold von Ranke. In 1857 Giesebrecht became professor at Königsberg and in 1862 succeeded Heinrich von Sybel at Munich. In Geschichte der

Walter Gieseking was a German pianist acclaimed for his interpretations of works by Classical, Romantic, and early 20th-century composers. The son of German parents living in France, Gieseking began study at the Hannover Municipal Conservatory in 1911 and made his debut in 1913. During World War I

radon: …in 1904 by German chemist Friedrich O. Giesel and French physicist André-Louis Debierne. Radioactive isotopes having masses ranging from 204 through 224 have been identified, the longest-lived of these being radon-222, which has a half-life of 3.82 days. All the isotopes decay into stable end-products of helium and isotopes of…

doctrine and dogma: Distinctions between doctrine and dogma: According to J.K.L. Gieseler, a 19th-century German church historian, in Dogmengeschichte,

Giessen, city, Hessen Land (state), west-central Germany. It lies on the Lahn River between the Westerwald and Vogelsberg (mountains), north of Frankfurt am Main. First mentioned in 1197, it was chartered in 1248 and sold to the landgraves of Hesse in 1267. It was part of independent Hesse-Marburg

GIF, digital file format devised in 1987 by the Internet service provider CompuServe as a means of reducing the size of images and short animations. Because GIF is a lossless data compression format, meaning that no information is lost in the compression, it quickly became a popular format for

airship: …successful airship was constructed by Henri Giffard of France in 1852. Giffard built a 160-kilogram (350-pound) steam engine capable of developing 3 horsepower, sufficient to turn a large propeller at 110 revolutions per minute. To carry the engine weight, he filled a bag 44 metres (144 feet) long with hydrogen…

Edward W. Gifford was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, and student of California Indian ethnography who developed the University of California Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, into a major U.S. collection. A competent naturalist, Gifford accompanied expeditions of the California Academy

Edward W. Gifford was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, and student of California Indian ethnography who developed the University of California Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, into a major U.S. collection. A competent naturalist, Gifford accompanied expeditions of the California Academy

Chuck Bednarik: …Bednarik tackled star running back Frank Gifford so ferociously that Gifford was unable to return to the sport until 1962. A familiar photograph taken soon after the tackle shows Bednarik celebrating over a prone Gifford, a gesture that was perceived by some as cruel taunting but that was in fact…

Chuck Bednarik: …Bednarik tackled star running back Frank Gifford so ferociously that Gifford was unable to return to the sport until 1962. A familiar photograph taken soon after the tackle shows Bednarik celebrating over a prone Gifford, a gesture that was perceived by some as cruel taunting but that was in fact…

Regis Philbin: …and, with the addition of Kathie Lee Gifford in 1985, Morning became a huge success. Much of its popularity centred on the on-air chemistry between Philbin and Gifford. The duo’s unscripted banter during the opening chat sequence was a highlight of the show, and Philbin became noted for his comical…

William Gifford was an English satirical poet, classical scholar, and early editor of 17th-century English playwrights, best known as the first editor (1809–24) of the Tory Quarterly Review, founded to combat the liberalism of the Whig Edinburgh Review. Gifford owed his editorship to his connection

Gabby Giffords is an American Democratic politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012. In January 2011, she was the victim of an assassination attempt. Giffords grew up in Tucson and attended Scripps College in Claremont, California, where in 1993 she received a B.A.

Gabby Giffords is an American Democratic politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012. In January 2011, she was the victim of an assassination attempt. Giffords grew up in Tucson and attended Scripps College in Claremont, California, where in 1993 she received a B.A.

infertility: Treatment options: Another procedure, called gamete intrafallopian transfer, or GIFT, is a variation of IVF. After the ovaries have been stimulated and mature oocytes collected, the latter are mixed with sperm and, under laparoscopic guidance, placed in the unobstructed fallopian tube. Fertilization then occurs naturally—inside the body (in vivo)—rather than…

gift, in law, a present or thing bestowed gratuitously. The term is generally restricted to mean gratuitous transfers inter vivos (among the living) of real or personal property. A valid gift requires: (1) a competent donor; (2) an eligible donee; (3) an existing identifiable thing or interest; (4)

generalized exchange: …one another is also called network-generalized or chain-generalized exchange. In addition, this form of generalized exchange is sometimes referred to as a gift economy. However, generalized exchange systems do not have explicit reciprocity between participants (as some gift economies do). The indirect nature of generalized exchange distinguishes it from similar…

gift exchange, the transfer of goods or services that, although regarded as voluntary by the people involved, is part of the expected social behaviour. Gift exchange may be distinguished from other types of exchange in several respects: the first offering is made in a generous manner and there is

St. Augustine: Controversial writings: …and De dono perseverantiae (429; The Gift of Perseverance).

The Gift of the Magi, short story by O. Henry, published in the New York Sunday World in 1905 and then collected in The Four Million (1906). The story concerns James and Della Dillingham Young, a young couple who, despite their poverty, individually resolve to give each other an elegant gift on

gift tax, a levy imposed on gratuitous transfers of property—i.e., those made without compensation. Provisions for such taxes are common in national tax systems. In the tax systems of many nations, gift taxes are integrated to some degree with an estate (inheritance) tax. The relationship stems not

Man Ray: Among his best-known ready-mades is The Gift (1921), a flatiron with a row of tacks glued to the bottom.

anthropology: Anthropology in Europe: …Essai sur le don (1925; The Gift), an analysis of “the gift,” including an examination of the concepts of reciprocity and exchange. The long-term work on West African worldviews (Dieu d’eau: entretiens avec Ogotemmêli [1948]) by the group around Marcel Griaule has perhaps been more admired than really influential. For…

Cate Blanchett: Films: Elizabeth and the Lord of the Rings series: As the lead character in The Gift (2000), she played a psychic whose visions involve her in the investigation of a local woman’s murder. In 2001 she portrayed a kidnapped housewife who falls in love with her captors in Bandits. She next appeared as the elf queen Galadriel in The…

The Red Pony: In “The Gift,” the best-known story, young Jody Tiflin is given a red pony by his rancher father. Under ranch hand Billy Buck’s guidance, Jody learns to care for and train his pony, which he names Gabilan. Caught in an unexpected rain, Gabilan catches a cold…

The Gift, novel by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published serially (in expurgated form in Russian) as Dar in 1937–38. It was published in its complete form as a book in 1952. The Gift is set in post-World War I Berlin, where Nabokov himself had been an émigré. Steeped in satiric detail about the

giftbook, an illustrated literary miscellany, or collection of verse, tales, and sketches. The giftbook was popular in England and the United States during the second quarter of the 19th century and was published annually in ornamental

Chris Evans: …of a math prodigy in Gifted (2017). Evans made his directorial debut with the romance Before We Go (2014), in which he also starred.

gifted child, any child who is naturally endowed with a high degree of general mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific sphere of activity or knowledge. The designation of giftedness is largely a matter of administrative convenience. In most countries the prevailing definition is an

Ben Carson: Other activities: …of the 2009 made-for-television movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. The movie took its title from Carson’s autobiography, Gifted Hands (1990; with Cecil Murphey).

Nuruddin Farah: …the novels Maps (1986) and Gifts (1992)—was published in 1998. Links (2003), Knots (2006), and Crossbones (2011) constitute another trilogy. Farah’s other novels included North of Dawn (2018). For his thoughts about his country at the turn of the new millennium, see Sidebar: Somalia at the

Gifu, city and prefecture (ken), central Honshu, Japan. It is landlocked and dominated by mountains except in the south, where the inner part of Nōbi Plain is drained by the Nagara, Hida, and Kiso rivers. The plain supports most of the area’s agriculture and contains the prefectural capital, Gifu,

Gifu: Gifu city is noted for paper lantern manufacture and for sweetfish (ayu) fishing with cormorants in the summer. Takayama holds festivals (April and September) during which wheeled floats are paraded to the largest shrines in the town. Gifu University (1949) is located in Kamigahara city.…

gig, any of several members of a class of light, open, two-wheeled, one-horse carriages, popular in France, England, and America. The gig, which first appeared in Paris in the 17th century, is the ancestor of the cabriolet. Popular variations were the Tilbury gig and the Stanhope gig, both designed

Got a gig on the side?We could all use a little extra cash in our pockets every now and then. And if you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, you’re not only giving yourself little to no margin for error (or emergency), but you may also be shortchanging your retirement and other financial goals. One way

Simon Armitage: Other works: …include All Points North (1998), Gig: The Life and Times of a Rock-Star Fantasist (2009), and Walking Home (2012), which recounts his experience walking the Pennine Way in England. He also has penned plays, an opera libretto, and the script for a puppet opera. Other projects include a sequence of…

gigue: …68 time, while the Italian giga was faster and set in 128 time. As a musical form the gigue was often used in the stylized dance suite as the last movement. Invariably written in fugal style, the gigues of suites retain the characteristic triple groups of eighth notes. Examples occur…

byte: …hardware are usually given in gigabytes (GB; one billion bytes) and terabytes (TB; one trillion bytes). Because the byte had its roots in binary digits, originally one kilobyte was not 1,000 bytes but 1,024 bytes (1,024 = 210), and thus one megabyte (MB) was 1,024 × 1,024 bytes and so…

particle accelerator: Accelerating particles: …volts (MeV, or million eV), gigaelectron volts (GeV, or billion eV), or teraelectron volts (TeV, or trillion eV).

East Asian arts: Common traditions: Called kiak in Korea and gigaku in Japan, the Aryan features of some of its masks clearly indicate Indian (or Central Asian) influence. Such complicated genealogies are common in East Asian performing arts.

gigaku mask, stylized wooden mask worn by participants in gigaku, a type of Japanese dance drama. Gigaku masks are the first known masks used in Japan and among the world’s oldest extant masks. Soon after a Korean musician named Mimashi imported gigaku plays into Japan from China, in 612, Japanese

Giganotosaurus, (Giganotosaurus carolinii), genus of a large theropod dinosaur in the family Carcharodontosauridae that lived during the Cenomanian Stage of the Late Cretaceous Period from about 100 million to 97 million years ago. Genus Giganotosaurus is made up of only one species, G. carolinii.

tree: Trees of special interest: …Mexican swamp cypress is “El Gigante,” located at Tule, Oaxaca. The trunk of this massive tree is buttressed and not circular; if the bays and promontories of the buttresses are followed, the basal circumference is nearly 46 metres (151 feet).

Alfred Döblin: …is a historical novel, and Berge, Meere und Giganten (1924; “Mountains, Seas, and Giants”; republished as Giganten in 1932) is a merciless anti-utopian satire.

Palazzo del Te: …Gonzaga horses; and the fantastic Sala dei Giganti, a continuous scene, painted from floor to ceiling, of the giants attempting to storm Olympus and being repulsed by the gods. The palace is open to the public.

gigantism, excessive growth in stature, well beyond the average for the individual’s heredity and environmental conditions. Tall stature may result from hereditary, dietary, or other factors. Gigantism is caused by disease or disorder in those parts of the endocrine system that regulate growth and

photoreception: Concave mirror eyes: …exception is the large ostracod Gigantocypris, a creature with two parabolic reflectors several millimetres across. It lives in the deep ocean and probably uses its eyes to detect bioluminescent organisms on which it preys. The images are poor, but the light-gathering power is enormous. A problem with all concave mirror…

giant: The Gigantomachy was a desperate struggle between the Giants and the Olympians. The gods finally prevailed through the aid of Heracles the archer, and the Giants were slain. Many of them were believed to lie buried under mountains and to indicate their presence by volcanic fires…

Gigantopithecus, (Gigantopithecus blacki), genus of large extinct apes represented by a single species, Gigantopithecus blacki, which lived during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) in southern China. Gigantopithecus is considered to be a sister genus of Pongo (the genus that

Gigantopithecus: …its own genus and renamed Indopithecus giganteus. Studies suggest that I. giganteus inhabited grassland landscapes in northern India and Pakistan between about 6 million and 5 million years ago near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. I. giganteus was significantly smaller than G. blacki. Height and weight estimates derived from tooth

Gigantopithecus: … represented by a single species, Gigantopithecus blacki, which lived during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) in southern China. Gigantopithecus is considered to be a sister genus of Pongo (the genus that contains living orangutans) in the subfamily Ponginae of the family Hominidae. A 2019 study that…

Gigantopithecus: …its own genus and renamed Indopithecus giganteus. Studies suggest that I. giganteus inhabited grassland landscapes in northern India and Pakistan between about 6 million and 5 million years ago near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. I. giganteus was significantly smaller than G. blacki. Height and weight estimates derived from tooth

amphibian: Size range and diversity of structure: The West African goliath frog, which can reach 30 cm (12 inches) from snout to vent and weigh up to 3.3 kg (7.3 pounds), is the largest anuran. Some of the smallest anurans include the South American brachycephalids, which have an adult snout-to-vent length of only 9.8 mm…

scorpion: Size range and diversity of structure: Fossils of two species (Gigantoscorpio willsi and Brontoscorpio anglicus) measure from 35 cm (14 inches) to a metre (3.3 feet) or more, and an undescribed species is estimated to have been 90 cm (35.5 inches). Most species from deserts and other arid regions are yellowish or light brown in…

giant water scorpion, any member of the extinct subclass Eurypterida of the arthropod group Merostomata, a lineage of large, scorpion-like, aquatic invertebrates that flourished during the Silurian Period (444 to 416 million years ago). Well over 200 species have been identified and divided into 18

fungus: Annotated classification: Order Gigasporales Arbuscular mycorrhizal; uses extra-radical auxiliary cells instead of vesicles in plant roots. Order Glomerales Arbuscular mycorrhizal; forms single spores, loose clusters of spores, or compact sporocarps (fruiting bodies); example genus is Glomus. Class

Pearl Jam: Later releases: On Gigaton (2020) the band inveighed against the dangers of climate change.

Gigi, comedy of manners by Colette, published in 1944. While Gigi’s mother works as a second-rate theatre singer, Gigi is left in the care of her grandmother and great-aunt, both retired courtesans. They endeavour to teach Gigi the family business: pleasing men. The two decide to ask Gaston, the

Maurice Chevalier: His next film, Gigi (1958), won nine Academy Awards, including that for best picture, and remains Chevalier’s most popular movie. His later motion pictures included Can-Can (1960) and Fanny (1961). In 1958 Chevalier received an honorary Academy Award for his more than 50 years of contributions to the…

Alfred Drake: …and as Honoré Lachalles in Gigi (1973). He also took on serious roles in such plays as Much Ado About Nothing (1957) and Hamlet (1964). Drake was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame (1981) and was awarded the Tony Honor of Excellence (1990).

Gijón, city, Asturias provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northwestern Spain. It is located on the Bay of Biscay at the foot of Santa Catalina Hill, just northeast of Oviedo city. Known to the Romans and Goths as Gigia, it was captured by the Moors early in the 8th

Ben Affleck: Return to prominence: costarred with Jennifer Lopez in Gigli, which received scathing reviews. He and Lopez became engaged, and the intense tabloid coverage of their two-year relationship overshadowed his career. Although he continued acting, it was not until 2006 that Affleck returned to prominence, this time as the former Superman actor George Reeves…

Beniamino Gigli was one of the greatest Italian operatic tenors of the first quarter of the 20th century. Gigli studied in Rome, and, after winning a competition at Parma in 1914, he made his debut at Rovigo, Italy, as Enzo in Amilcare Ponchielli’s La gioconda. Following engagements in Spain and

Beniamino Gigli: …with his daughter, the soprano Rina Gigli. His last operatic appearance was in 1954, his last concert in 1955.

Giglio Island, mountainous, volcanic islet of the Tuscan Archipelago, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, opposite Mount Argentario, on the west coast of Italy. The island rises to 1,634 feet (498 metres) and has an area of 8 square miles (21 square km). Wine is produced, and there is considerable offshore

Maurice-Irénée-Marie Gignoux was a French geologist who contributed to knowledge of the stratigraphy of the Mediterranean during the Pliocene Epoch (5.3 to 2.6 million years ago) and the Quaternary Period (from 2.6 million years ago to the present). He joined the meteorological research department

Gene Kelly: Films of the 1960s and beyond: …the Wind (1960), Kelly directed Gigot (1962), a heart-tugging story filmed in Paris and starring Jackie Gleason as a mute man who takes a waif under his wing. Kelly also directed the comedy A Guide for the Married Man (1967), which starred Walter Matthau as the title character being tutored…

gigue, popular Baroque dance that originated in the British Isles and became widespread in aristocratic circles of Europe; also a medieval name for a bowed string instrument, from which the modern German word Geige (“violin”) derives. Whereas true jigs were quick and wild solo dances of indefinite

Anaheim Ducks: …by the fantastic goaltending of Jean-Sébastien Giguère. Anaheim eventually lost that series to the New Jersey Devils, but Giguère won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s most valuable player.

Canadian literature: World War II and the postwar period, 1935–60: …word, while poet and engraver Roland Giguère began writing poetry inspired by both Surrealism and Quebec nationalism. On the political front, in 1950 Pierre Elliott Trudeau and others founded Cité libre (“Free City”), a journal of social and political criticism. The “quiet revolution” was not far away.

Gijón, city, Asturias provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northwestern Spain. It is located on the Bay of Biscay at the foot of Santa Catalina Hill, just northeast of Oviedo city. Known to the Romans and Goths as Gigia, it was captured by the Moors early in the 8th

Joost van den Vondel: Van den Vondel’s Gijsbrecht van Aemstel (1637), written during this transitional period, provides a hero for the capital of the new Dutch Republic who was modeled on Virgil’s Aeneas. In 1639 van den Vondel completed his first translation of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ Electra. His original play Gebroeders,…

Belgian literature: After World War I: …Brulez and the disenchanted humanist Marnix Gijsen, who produced his best work in the symbolic Het boek van Joachim van Babylon (1947; “The Book of Joachim of Babylon”), are more or less detached observers of human weaknesses.

Joseph Gikatilla was a major Spanish Kabbalist whose writings influenced those of Moses de León, presumed author of the Zohar (“Book of Splendour”), an important work of Jewish mysticism. Gikatilla’s early studies of philosophy and the Talmud (the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary)

Japanese literature: Kamakura period (1192–1333): …by the Soga brothers, and Gikeiki (“Chronicle of Gikei”; Eng. trans. Yoshitsune), describing the life of the warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune. Though inartistically composed, these portraits of resourceful and daring heroes caught the imaginations of the Japanese, and their exploits are still prominent on the Kabuki stage.

Kikuyu, Bantu-speaking people who live in the highland area of south-central Kenya, near Mount Kenya. In the late 20th century the Kikuyu numbered more than 4,400,000 and formed the largest ethnic group in Kenya, approximately 20 percent of the total population. Their own name for themselves is