1.
Victor de Pol
–
Victor de Pol was a sculptor most active in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Born in Venice, de Pol was a student of Giulio Monteverde and he immigrated to Argentina at the age of 22 and participated in the development of La Plata, designing Beaux-Arts-style sculpture for major public buildings. At least judging from his commissions related to President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, from 1890 through 1895 de Pol returned to Europe. His return to Argentina brought the work of his career. He is buried in La Recoleta Cemetery in the vault of Aristóbulo del Valle
2.
Smilodon
–
Smilodon is an extinct genus of machairodont felid. It is perhaps one of the most famous prehistoric mammals, although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch, the genus was named in 1842, based on fossils from Brazil. Three species are recognized today, S. gracilis, S. fatalis, the two latter species were probably descended from S. gracilis, which itself probably evolved from Megantereon. The largest collection of Smilodon fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, overall, Smilodon was more robustly built than any extant cat, with particularly well-developed forelimbs and exceptionally long upper canine teeth. Its jaw had a bigger gape than that of modern cats, S. gracilis was the smallest species at 55 to 100 kg in weight. S. fatalis had a weight of 160 to 280 kg, both of these species are mainly known from North America, but remains from South America have also been attributed to them. S. populator from South America is perhaps the largest known felid at 220 to 400 kg in weight and 120 cm in height, the coat pattern of Smilodon is unknown, but it has been artistically restored with plain or spotted patterns. In North America, Smilodon hunted large herbivores such as bison and camels, Smilodon is thought to have killed its prey by holding it still with its forelimbs and biting it, but it is unclear in what manner the bite itself was delivered. Scientists debate whether Smilodon had a social or a solitary lifestyle, Smilodon probably lived in closed habitats such as forests and bush, which would have provided cover for ambushing prey. Smilodon died out at the time that most North and South American megafauna disappeared. Its reliance on large animals has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with change and competition with other species. During the 1830s, Danish naturalist Peter Wilhelm Lund and his assistants collected fossils in the caves near the small town of Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais. Among the thousands of fossils found, he recognized a few isolated cheek teeth as belonging to a hyena, after more material was found, Lund concluded the fossils instead belonged to a distinct genus of felid, though transitional to the hyenas. He stated it would have matched the largest modern predators in size, Lund originally wanted to name the new genus Hyaenodon, but realizing this had recently become preoccupied by another prehistoric predator, he instead named it Smilodon populator in 1842. He explained the Ancient Greek meaning of Smilodon as σμίλη, a scalpel or two-edged knife and this has also been translated as tooth shaped like double-edged knife. He explained the species name populator as the destroyer, which has also translated as he who brings devastation. By 1846, Lund had acquired nearly every part of the skeleton, fossils of Smilodon were discovered in North America from the second half of the 19th century onwards
3.
Natural history
–
Natural history is the research and study of organisms including animals, fungi and plants in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. It encompasses scientific research but is not limited to it, with articles nowadays more often published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the sciences, natural history is the systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms. That is a broad designation in a world filled with many narrowly focused disciplines. For example, geobiology has a strong multi-disciplinary nature combining scientists, a person who studies natural history is known as a naturalist or natural historian. The English term natural history is a translation of the Latin historia naturalis and its meaning has narrowed progressively with time, while the meaning of the related term nature has widened. In antiquity, it covered essentially anything connected with nature or which used materials drawn from nature. For example, Pliny the Elders encyclopedia of this title, published circa 77 to 79 AD, covers astronomy, geography, man and his technology, medicine and superstition as well as animals and plants. Medieval European academics considered knowledge to have two divisions, the humanities and divinity, with science studied largely through texts rather than observation or experiment. In modern terms, natural philosophy roughly corresponded to modern physics and chemistry, natural history had been encouraged by practical motives, such as Linnaeus aspiration to improve the economic condition of Sweden. Similarly, the Industrial Revolution prompted the development of geology to help find useful mineral deposits, the astronomer, William Herschel was also a natural historian. Instead of working with plants or minerals he worked with the stars and he spent his time building telescopes to see the stars and the rest of the time watching the stars. In the beginning, he believed there to be a known as a nebulae. Herschel can be considered a natural historian because he observed the natural world, in the process he made charts of all the stars and kept records of all that he saw. S. Wilcove and T. Eisner, The close observation of organisms—their origins, their evolution, their behavior and it encompasses changes in internal states insofar as they pertain to what organisms do. Some definitions go further, focusing on observation of organisms in their environment. Bartholomew, A student of history, or a naturalist, studies the world by observing plants. A common thread in many definitions of natural history is the inclusion of a component, as seen in a recent definition by H. W. Greene
4.
La Plata
–
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of the partido La Plata. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 765,378, La Plata was planned and developed to serve as the provincial capital after the city of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880. It was officially founded by Governor Dardo Rocha on 19 November 1882 and its construction is fully documented in photographs by Tomás Bradley Sutton. La Plata was renamed Eva Perón City between 1952 and 1955, the city is home to two important first division football teams, Estudiantes de La Plata and Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. Rocha decided to erect a new city to host the provincial government institutions, urban planner Pedro Benoit designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city has the shape of a square with a central park, in addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonal streets. This design is copied in a manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. For every six blocks, there is a park or square. Other than the streets, all streets are on a rectangular grid and are numbered consecutively. Thus, La Plata is nicknamed la ciudad de las diagonales and it is also called la ciudad de los tilos, because of the large number of linden trees lining the many streets and squares. Palms and subtropical evergreen trees thrive, but are comparatively infrequent. The city design and its buildings are noted to possess a strong Freemason symbolism and this is said to be a consequence of both Rocha and Benoit being Freemasons. The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by Italians, the City Hall by Germans, electric street lighting was installed in 1884, and was the first of its kind in Latin America. The neo-Gothic cathedral of La Plata is the largest church in Argentina, the Curutchet House is one of the two buildings by Le Corbusier built in the Americas. The Teatro Argentino de La Plata is one of the most important opera houses in Argentina, the theatre was built on the square block between 9th and 10th Street and 51st and 53rd Avenue. It was opened on November 19,1890 and it was designed by Leopoldo Rochi in Renaissance style. The work was funded by the first inhabitants of La Plata, in the foyer, entering through the majestic doors, there was a beautiful white Carrara marble staircase
5.
Argentina
–
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
6.
National University of La Plata
–
The National University of La Plata is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90,000 regular students,10,000 teaching staff,16 departments and 106 available degrees, the institution began operations on April 18,1897, as the Universidad Provincial de La Plata with Dr. Dardo Rocha as its rector. In 1905, Joaquín V. González, the Minister of Justice and Public Education of the government of Manuel Quintana, González also integrated many municipal scientific institutions into the university, and a year later he became the first President of the National University of La Plata. Today the university one of the most important paleontological and anthropological collections in South America. The university coat of arms was adopted at the first university assembly on 14 February 1897 and it represents the City of La Plata holding up the Light of Science. The constellation of the Southern Cross is also featured, as well as the coat of arms of the Province of Buenos Aires, the university emblem is the oak leaf. Its motto Pro Scientia et Patria is a Latin phrase meaning For Science, the university hymn was composed by Carlos López Buchardo, and its lyrics were written by Arturo Capdevilla. The hymn premiered on 23 October 1927 in the Teatro Argentino of La Plata to commemorate the centenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. It was performed by the orchestra of the Colón Theater of Buenos Aires under the direction of Adolfo Morpurgo, the national capital of Buenos Aires was federalized in 1880. This forced the surrounding Province of Buenos Aires to cede the city, the new provincial capital in La Plata was subsequently founded in 1882 but lacked a center of higher education and investigation. The proposal had immediate repercussions in the city of La Plata, the law was once and for all passed by the provincial Chamber of Deputies on 27 December 1889 and was enacted as Law Number 233 by Governor Máximo Paz on 2 January 1890. The new law established the creation of a university of tertiary studies with four faculties, Law, Medicine, Chemistry and Pharmacy, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Due to this delay, a group of citizens presented a request to the Ministry of Government on 5 May 1891 declaring their intentions that their children study law in La Plata. However, the file on that request was closed in 1893, on 28 May 1894, a similar request was presented to the new governor, Guillermo Udaondo, insisting on the full completion of Law 233. Concurrently, Dr. Dardo Rocha, the founder of the city and this was finally sanctioned on 8 February 1897 — seven years after the passing of the law. The first University Assembly came together on 14 February and designated Dardo Rocha himself as the first rector of the university, Studies began on 18 April in the Banco Hipotecario building — the present-day site of the Rectors office — with a class on Law History given by Jacob Larrain. Despite the objectives for which it may have established, the first years of the university were discouraging. In October 1904, González, Governor Marcelino Ugarte and the congressional delegation convened to advance the nationalization project
7.
Amphitheatre
–
An amphitheatre or amphitheater /ˈæmfᵻˌθiːətər/ is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, ancient Roman amphitheatres were oval or circular in plan, with seating tiers that surrounded the central performance area, like a modern open-air stadium. In contrast both ancient Greek and ancient Roman theatres were built in a semicircle, with tiered seating rising on one side of the performance area. In modern usage, amphitheatre is used to describe theatre-style stages with spectator seating on only one side, theatres in the round. Natural formations of similar shape are known as natural amphitheatres. Ancient Roman amphitheatres were major public venues, circular or oval in plan and they were used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot races, venationes and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire, the earliest Roman amphitheatres date from the middle of the 1st century BC, but most were built under Imperial rule, from the Augustan period onwards. Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman empire, the largest could accommodate 40, the most elaborate featured multi-storeyed, arcaded façades and were elaborately decorated with marble, stucco and statuary. After the end of games in the 5th century and of staged animal hunts in the 6th. Their materials were mined or recycled, some were razed, and others were converted into fortifications. A few continued as convenient open meeting places, in some of these, in modern usage, an amphitheatre is a circular, semicircular or curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors. Small-scale amphitheatres can serve to host outdoor local community performances, notable modern amphitheatres include the Shoreline Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl. The term amphitheatre is used for some indoor venues such as the Gibson Amphitheatre. The term amphitheatre can also be used to naturally occurring formations which would be ideal for this purpose. Arena Stadium Thingplatz List of Roman amphitheatres List of contemporary amphitheatres List of indoor arenas List of ancient Greek theatres Roman theatre Bomgardner, the Story of the Roman Amphitheatre
8.
Francisco Moreno
–
Francisco Pascasio Moreno was a prominent explorer and academic in Argentina, where he is usually referred to as Perito Moreno. Perito Moreno has been credited as one of the most influential figures in the Argentine incorporation of parts of Patagonia. Moreno was born to Francisco and Juana Thwaites Madero in Buenos Aires, raised in a traditional patrician family, he studied in local parochial schools. He shared his time with his father searching for artifacts and fossils. Following graduation in 1872, he participated in the founding of the Argentine Scientific Society, in January 1876, he reached Lake Nahuel-Huapi in the southern Andes, and on February 15,1877, he discovered and baptized Lake Argentino. He also explored numerous rivers in Patagonia, on March 2, he discovered and named Mount Fitz Roy, after the commander of the expedition of the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. The native people called it Chalten. In 1880, Moreno went to France, where he spoke at a meeting of the Anthropology Society of Paris, discussing two prehistoric skulls he had unearthed in Río Negro territory. He believed one was from the Quaternary period, and the other had ritual deformation in a similar to the skulls of the Aymara people of the Andes. After his return to Argentina, that year he embarked on his major expedition to the territory of Patagonia. He was taken prisoner by a Tehuelche aboriginal tribe and condemned to death and he escaped on March 11, one day before the appointed execution. During this period he met the Tehuelche chief, Inacayal, who was hospitable to him, later Inacayal led a resistance to the government, not surrendering until 1884. In 1882–1883 Moreno explored the Andes from Bolivia southward, and in 1884–1885 he made new explorations of the south of the Río Negro. He was appointed as chief of the Argentine exploring commission of the southern territories, for his contributions to science, Moreno received a doctorate Honoris causa from the National University of Córdoba in 1877. He is also known for his role in defending Argentine interests and he made defining surveys that led to the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. These surveys and others yielded Moreno a vast collection of archaeological and anthropological data and artifacts, in 1888, he founded the La Plata Museum of Natural History, the most important of its kind in South America. The scholar Jens Andermann has studied how Morenos collection of artifacts at these two museums helped establish Argentine history, and the claim to its territory. Through these scientific and cultural collections, Moreno contributed to the national mythology and he brought artifacts and materials in from remote regions to be examined, catalogued and studies at the museum in the capital
9.
Anthropology
–
Anthropology is the study of various aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology and cultural anthropology study the norms and values of societies, linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the development of humans. The abstract noun anthropology is first attested in reference to history and its present use first appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their New Latin anthropologia derived from the forms of the Greek words ánthrōpos and lógos. It began to be used in English, possibly via French anthropologie, various short-lived organizations of anthropologists had already been formed. The Société Ethnologique de Paris, the first to use Ethnology, was formed in 1839 and its members were primarily anti-slavery activists. When slavery was abolished in France in 1848 the Société was abandoned and these anthropologists of the times were liberal, anti-slavery, and pro-human-rights activists. Anthropology and many other current fields are the results of the comparative methods developed in the earlier 19th century. For them, the publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species was the epiphany of everything they had begun to suspect, Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparison of species he had seen in agronomy and in the wild. Darwin and Wallace unveiled evolution in the late 1850s, there was an immediate rush to bring it into the social sciences. When he read Darwin he became a convert to Transformisme. His definition now became the study of the group, considered as a whole, in its details. Broca, being what today would be called a neurosurgeon, had taken an interest in the pathology of speech and he wanted to localize the difference between man and the other animals, which appeared to reside in speech. He discovered the speech center of the brain, today called Brocas area after him. The title was translated as The Anthropology of Primitive Peoples. The last two volumes were published posthumously, Waitz defined anthropology as the science of the nature of man. By nature he meant matter animated by the Divine breath, i. e. he was an animist and he stresses that the data of comparison must be empirical, gathered by experimentation
10.
Fossil
–
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils across geological time, how they were formed, such a preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than some minimum age, most often the arbitrary date of 10,000 years. The observation that fossils were associated with certain rock strata led early geologists to recognize a geological timescale in the 19th century. The development of dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed geologists to determine the numerical or absolute age of the various strata. Like extant organisms, fossils vary in size from microscopic, even single bacterial cells one micrometer in diameter, to gigantic, such as dinosaurs, Fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as animal tracks or feces. These types of fossil are called trace fossils, as opposed to body fossils, finally, past life leaves some markers that cannot be seen but can be detected in the form of biochemical signals, these are known as chemofossils or biosignatures. The process of fossilization varies according to type and external conditions. Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs when an organism is buried, the empty spaces within an organism become filled with mineral-rich groundwater. Minerals precipitate from the groundwater, occupying the empty spaces and this process can occur in very small spaces, such as within the cell wall of a plant cell. Small scale permineralization can produce very detailed fossils, for permineralization to occur, the organism must become covered by sediment soon after death or soon after the initial decay process. The degree to which the remains are decayed when covered determines the later details of the fossil, some fossils consist only of skeletal remains or teeth, other fossils contain traces of skin, feathers or even soft tissues. This is a form of diagenesis, in some cases the original remains of the organism completely dissolve or are otherwise destroyed. The remaining organism-shaped hole in the rock is called an external mold, if this hole is later filled with other minerals, it is a cast. An endocast or internal mold is formed when sediments or minerals fill the cavity of an organism. This is a form of cast and mold formation. If the chemistry is right, the organism can act as a nucleus for the precipitation of minerals such as siderite, if this happens rapidly before significant decay to the organic tissue, very fine three-dimensional morphological detail can be preserved. Nodules from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois, USA, are among the best documented examples of such mineralization, replacement occurs when the shell, bone or other tissue is replaced with another mineral
11.
Buenos Aires
–
Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata. The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Provinces capital, rather, in 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores, the 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996, previously, Buenos Aires is considered an alpha city by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires quality of life was ranked 81st in the world and one of the best in Latin America in 2012 and it is the most visited city in South America, and the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, and is known for its preserved Spanish/European-style architecture, Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires will host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2018 G20 summit, Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple ethnic and religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture, the hill was known to them as Buen Ayre, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, which is adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Aragonese built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill, in 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea, the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors, especially Andalusians, venerated this image and frequently invoked the Fair Winds to aid them in their navigation, a sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be later erected in Seville. Pedro de Mendoza called the city Holy Mary of the Fair Winds, mendoza’s settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, and was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, a second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción. Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form Buenos Aires became the common usage during the 17th century, the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As. It is common as well to refer to it as B. A. or BA /ˌbiːˈeɪ/ bee-AY), while BA is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more often use the abbreviation Baires, in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516 and his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay
12.
Patagonia
–
Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the section of the Andes mountains as well as the deserts, steppes. Patagonia has two coasts, a western one towards the Pacific Ocean and an eastern one towards the Atlantic Ocean, the Colorado and Barrancas rivers, which run from the Andes to the Atlantic, are commonly considered the northern limit of Argentine Patagonia. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego is sometimes included as part of Patagonia, most geographers and historians locate the northern limit of Chilean Patagonia at Reloncaví Estuary. The name Patagonia comes from the word used by Magellan in 1520 to describe the native people that his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed that the people he called the Patagons were Tehuelches, the hypothesis was accepted and published in the New Review of Spanish Philology in the 2011 article. In the hollows of the plains are ponds or lakes of fresh and brackish water, towards the Andes, the shingle gives place to porphyry, granite, and basalt lavas, animal life becomes more abundant and vegetation more luxuriant. It is characteristic of the flora of the western coast, and consist principally of southern beech and conifers. Among the depressions by which the plateau is intersected transversely, the ones are the Gualichu, south of the Río Negro, the Maquinchao and Valcheta, the Senguerr. There, erosion which is caused principally by the sudden melting, best in evidence where in contact with folded Cretaceous rocks which are uplifted by the Cenozoic granite. It generally separates the plateau from the first lofty hills, the ridges generally called the pre-Cordillera, to the west of these, a similar longitudinal depression extends all along the foot of the snowy Andean Cordillera. This latter depression contains the richest and most fertile land of Patagonia, Lake basins along the Cordillera were also excavated by ice-streams, including Lake Argentino and Lake Fagnano, as well as coastal bays such as Bahía Inútil. There have been discrepancies among geologists on the origin of the Patagonian landmass, víctor Ramos has proposed that the Patagonian landmass originated as an allochtonous terrane that separated from Antarctica and docked in South America 250 to 270 Ma in the Permian era. A2014 study by Robert John Pankhurst and coworkers reject any idea of a far-travelled Patagonia claiming it is likely of parautochtonous origin, the Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits have revealed a most interesting vertebrate fauna. The Patagonian Myolania belongs to the Upper Chalk, having been associated with remains of Dinosauria. In the Cenozoic marine formation, a number of cetaceans has been discovered. At a state level, Patagonia lies inside two countries, Chile and Argentina, both countries have organised their Patagonian territories into non-equivalent administrative subdivisions, Provinces and departments in Argentina, and regions, provinces and communes in Chile. Being a unitary state Chiles first level administrative divisions—the regions—enjoy far less autonomy than Argentine provinces, Argentine provinces have elected governors and parliaments, while Chilean regions have government-appointed intendants
13.
Nahuel Huapi Lake
–
Nahuel Huapi Lake is a lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The lake depression consists of glacial valleys carved out along faults. Nahuel Huapi lake, located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, has a surface of 529 km2, rests 2,510 feet over the sea level, and has a maximum measured depth of 1,437 feet. The June 2011 eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, in neighboring Chile, during the Last Glacial Maximum of the Llanquihue glaciation the lake basin was wholly occupied by a glacier. The name of the lake derives from the toponym of its island in Mapudungun, Island of the Jaguar, from nahuel, puma. There is, however, more to the word Nahuel - it can signify a man who by sorcery has been transformed to a puma. Its seven branches are named Blest, Huemul, de la Tristeza, Campanario, Machete, del Rincón and it is connected to other smaller lakes such as Gutiérrez, Moreno, Espejo and Correntoso. The deep-blue waters hold a number of islands, most notably Isla Victoria with 31 km². A curious fact about the lake is that, despite being nowhere near any ocean and being at high altitude, it is home for kelp gull. The lake’s crystal clear waters are susceptible to climate changes and have an average surface temperature of 45 °F. Hypothermia is one of the risks bathers must undertake, kayaking is a popular sport on this and adjacent lakes. The lake is also the point of the Limay River. This lake harbors several introduced, non-native species of trout, including trout, brown trout. At the beginning of the 20th century, and following an old aboriginal legend, the creature is known locally as Nahuelito. Reported sightings of it predate Nessie and The Lost World, local aborigines called another creature el Cuero for its smooth skin. The neighboring lake Lago Lácar, has also been the site for accounts of another creature, more consistent with a plesiosaur, with aborigines describing it as a sea-cow with teeth all around it. Members of the Buenos Aires Zoo visited the lake in 1922 trying to corroborate the reports of sightings of the prehistoric animal, Huemul Project, the Argentine secret research project on nuclear fusion on the Huemul Island. Limay River, a river of the region that is born in the lake
14.
Argentino Lake
–
Lago Argentino is a lake in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, at 50°2′S 72°4′W. It is the biggest freshwater lake in Argentina, with an area of 1,415 km2. It has a depth of 150 m, and a maximum depth of 500 m. Its drainage basin amounts to more than 17,000 km2, waters from Lake Argentino flow into the Atlantic Ocean through the Santa Cruz River. The glaciers, the town of El Calafate and the lake itself are important tourist destinations. The lake in particular is appreciated for fishing, perch, common galaxias, puyen grande, lake trout and rainbow trout — in both anadromous and Potamodromous forms — are all found. Lago Argentino was also the name of the airport served the area until 2000. This airport is closed and its runway was incorporated into the citys road system. It has been replaced by Comandante Armando Tola International Airport which serves the town of El Calafate and Lago Argentino, with many daily national and international flights
15.
Perito Moreno Glacier
–
The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier located in the Los Glaciares National Park in southwest Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentinian Patagonia, the 250 km2 ice formation, and 30 km in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the third largest reserve of fresh water. The glacier is unusual in that it is advancing, while most glaciers worldwide are retreating, the reason remains debated by glaciologists. The terminus of the Perito Moreno Glacier is 5 kilometres wide, with an height of 74 m above the surface of the water of Argentino Lake. It has a total ice depth of 170 metres, pressures from the weight of the ice slowly pushes the glacier over the southern arm of Argentino Lake, damming the section and separating it from the rest of the lake. With no outlet, the level on the Brazo Rico side of the lake can rise by as much as 30 meters above the level of the main body of Argentino Lake. As the water exits Brazo Rico, the shoreline is exposed. This dam–ice-bridge–rupture cycle recurs naturally between once a year to less than once a decade. The last rupture occurred on March 10,2016, and previously and it ruptures, on average, about every four to five years. As of February 2012, before the March 2 rupture, the glacier dammed the Brazo Rico, the water level there had risen 5.6 meters. Due to its size and accessibility, Perito Moreno is one of the major tourist attractions in southern Patagonia and it is less than two hours by bus from El Calafate, and many tour companies run daily visits. A large visitor centre at the features a walking circuit which allows visitors to view the southern flank. In recent years, trekking tours on the ice have gained popularity, the two standard tours are a mini-trekking option, consisting of a short walk of about an hour and a half, and a big ice version, which is usually about five hours. Tour companies generally provide crampons to customers, the Glaciers National Park Pictures of Perito Moreno Glacier
16.
Paleontology
–
Paleontology or palaeontology is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene Epoch. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms evolution and interactions with each other, paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuviers work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek παλαιός, palaios, i. e. old, ancient, ὄν, on, i. e. being, creature and λόγος, logos, i. e. speech, thought, study. Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics. The final quarter of the 20th century saw the development of molecular phylogenetics, molecular phylogenetics has also been used to estimate the dates when species diverged, but there is controversy about the reliability of the molecular clock on which such estimates depend. The simplest definition is the study of ancient life, paleontology is one of the historical sciences, along with archaeology, geology, astronomy, cosmology, philology and history itself. This means that it aims to describe phenomena of the past, hence it has three main elements, description of the phenomena, developing a general theory about the causes of various types of change, and applying those theories to specific facts. Sometimes the smoking gun is discovered by an accident during other research. Paleontology lies on the boundary between biology and geology since paleontology focuses on the record of past life but its source of evidence is fossils. In addition paleontology often uses techniques derived from other sciences, including biology, osteology, ecology, chemistry, techniques developed in engineering have been used to analyse how ancient organisms might have worked, for example how fast Tyrannosaurus could move and how powerful its bite was. As knowledge has increased, paleontology has developed specialised subdivisions, vertebrate paleontology concentrates on fossils of vertebrates, from the earliest fish to the immediate ancestors of modern mammals. Invertebrate paleontology deals with fossils of such as molluscs, arthropods. Paleobotany focuses on the study of plants, but traditionally includes the study of fossil algae. Palynology, the study of pollen and spores produced by plants and protists. Micropaleontology deals with all microscopic fossil organisms, regardless of the group to which they belong, one example is the development of oxygenic photosynthesis by bacteria, which hugely increased the productivity and diversity of ecosystems. This also caused the oxygenation of the atmosphere, together, these were a prerequisite for the evolution of the most complex eukaryotic cells, from which all multicellular organisms are built
17.
Chile
–
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
18.
Paul Broca
–
Pierre Paul Broca was a French physician, anatomist and anthropologist. He was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Gironde and he is best known for his research on Brocas area, a region of the frontal lobe that has been named after him. Brocas Area is involved with language and his work revealed that the brains of patients suffering from aphasia contained lesions in a particular part of the cortex, in the left frontal region. This was the first anatomical proof of the localization of brain function, Brocas work also contributed to the development of physical anthropology, advancing the science of anthropometry. Paul Broca was born on 28 June 1824 in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, Bordeaux, France, the son of Benjamin Broca, Brocas mother was a well-educated daughter of a Protestant preacher. Broca received basic education in the school in his hometown, earning a degree at the age of 16. He entered medical school in Paris when he was 17, and graduated at 20, in 1845, he became an intern with Pierre Nicolas Gerdy, a great anatomist and surgeon. After two years with Gerdy, Broca became his assistant, in 1848, Broca founded a society of free-thinkers, sympathetic to Charles Darwins theories. Broca was fascinated by the concept of evolution and once remarked and this brought him into conflict with the church, which regarded him as a subversive, materialist, and a corrupter of the youth. The church’s animosity toward him continued throughout his lifetime, resulting in numerous confrontations between Broca and the ecclesiastical authorities, in 1848, Broca became Prosector of anatomy at the University of Paris Medical School. He was also appointed secretary to the Société Anatomique, in 1849, he was awarded a medical doctorate. In 1853, Broca became professor agrégé, and was appointed surgeon of the hospital and he was elected to the chair of external pathology at the Faculty of Medicine in 1867, and one year later professor of clinical surgery. In 1868, he was elected a member of the Académie de medicine and he served in this capacity until his death. He worked for the Hôpital St. Antoine, the Pitié, the Hôtel des Clinques, in parallel with his medical career, Broca pursued his interest in anthropology. In 1859, he founded the Society of Anthropology of Paris and he served as the secretary of the society from 1862. In 1872, he founded the journal Revue danthropologie, and in 1876, the Church opposed the development of anthropology in France, and in 1876 organized a campaign to stop the teaching of the subject in the Anthropological Institute. Near the end of his life, Paul Broca was elected a member of the French Senate. He was also a member of the Académie française and held degrees from many learned institutions
19.
Rudolf Virchow
–
Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician, known for his advancement of public health. He is known as the father of modern pathology because his work helped to discredit humourism and he is also known as the founder of social medicine and veterinary pathology, and to his colleagues, the Pope of medicine. Born and raised in Schievelbein as a child of a working-class family. Dissuaded by his voice, he abandoned his initial interest in theology. With special military scholarship, he earned his degree from Friedrich-Wilhelms Institute under the tutelage of Johannes Peter Müller. He worked at the Charité hospital under Robert Froriep, whom he succeeded as the prosector. Although he failed to contain the 1847–1848 typhus epidemic in Upper Silesia, his report laid the foundation for health in Germany. From it, he coined a well known aphorism, Medicine is a social science and he participated in the Revolution of 1848, which led to his expulsion from Charité the next year. He published a newspaper Die medicinische Reform during this period to disseminate his social and political ideas and he took the first Chair of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Würzburg in 1849. After five years, Charité invited him back to direct its newly built Institute for Pathology, the campus of Charité is now named Campus Virchow Klinikum. He cofounded the political party Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, by which he was elected to the Prussian House of Representatives and his opposition to Otto von Bismarcks financial policy resulted in an anecdotal Sausage Duel between the two. But he ardently supported Bismarck in his campaigns, the social revolution he himself named as Kulturkampf. A prolific writer, his writings alone exceeded 2,000 in number. Among his books, Cellular Pathology published in 1858 is regarded as the root of modern pathology and this work also popularised the third dictum in cell theory, Omnis cellula e cellula, although his idea originated in 1855. He founded journals such as Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medizin, the latter is published by German Anthropological Association and the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, the societies of which he also founded. Virchow was the first to describe and give names of diseases such as leukemia, chordoma, ochronosis, embolism. He coined scientific terms, chromatin, agenesis, parenchyma, osteoid, amyloid degeneration and his description of the transmission cycle of a roundworm Trichinella spiralis established the importance of meat inspection, which was started in Berlin. He developed the first systematic method of autopsy involving surgery of all body parts, a number of medical terms are named after him, including Virchows node, Virchow–Robin spaces, Virchow–Seckel syndrome, and Virchows triad
20.
Buenos Aires Province
–
Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous Argentinian province. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the capital until it was federalized in 1880. The current capital of the province is the city of La Plata, the entire province is part of the Pampas geographical region. The province has a population of about 15.6 million people, nearly 10 million people live in Greater Buenos Aires, the metropolitan area surrounding the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The area of the province,307,571 km2, makes it the largest in Argentina with around 11% of the total area. The inhabitants of the province before the 16th century advent of Spanish colonisation were aboriginal peoples such as the Charrúas and their culture was lost over the next 350 years. They were subjected to Eurasian plagues from which few survived, the survivors joined other tribes or have been mostly absorbed by Argentinas European ethnic majority. Pedro de Mendoza founded Santa María del Buen Ayre in 1536, even though the first contact with the aboriginals was peaceful, it soon became hostile. The city was evacuated in 1541, Juan de Garay re-founded the settlement in 1580 as Santísima Trinidad y Puerto Santa María de los Buenos Aires. Amidst ongoing conflict with the aboriginals, the cattle farms extended from Buenos Aires, jesuits unsuccessfully tried to peacefully assimilate the aboriginals into the European culture brought by the Spanish conquistadores. A certain balance was found at the end of the 18th century, the end to this situation came in 1879 with the Conquest of the Desert in which the aboriginals where almost completely exterminated. After the independence from Spain in 1816, the city and province of Buenos Aires became the focus of an intermittent Argentine Civil War with other provinces. A Federal Pact secured by Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas in 1831 led to the establishment of the Argentine Confederation and to his gaining the sum of public power, which provided a tenuous unity. Ongoing disputes regarding the influence of Buenos Aires, between Federalists and Unitarians, and over the Port of Buenos Aires fueled periodic hostilities, the province was declared independent on September 11,1852, as the State of Buenos Aires. Concessions gained in the 1859 Pact of San José de Flores, intermittent conflicts with the nation did not truly cease until 1880, when the city of Buenos Aires was formally federalized and, thus, administratively separated from the province. La Plata was founded in 1882 by Governor Dardo Rocha for the purpose of becoming the provincial capital, the equivalent of a billion dollars of British investment and pro-development, education and immigration policies pursued at the national level subsequently spurred dramatic economic growth. Driven by European immigration and improved health, the population, like Argentinas, nearly doubled to one million by 1895. Rail lines connected nearly every town and hamlet in the province by 1914 and this era of accelerated development was cut short by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which caused a sharp drop in commodity prices and led to a halt in the flow of investment funds between nations
21.
Carlos Thays
–
Carlos Thays was a French-Argentine landscape architect, and a student of French landscape architect Édouard André. During his time in Córdoba Thays became infatuated with the young country, after moving to Buenos Aires he was named the citys Director of Parks & Walkways in 1891. This position gave him significant influence over the design of the open spaces. Major projects included tree planting along streets, remodeling and designing public plazas and walkways as well as designing completely new parks and expanding older ones. Major parks and plazas that particularly show Thays influence on Buenos Aires include the parks Centenario, Lezama, Patricios, Barrancas de Belgrano and the plazas Constitución, Congreso, and Mayo. Thays French heritage is reflected in many of his designs, in so far that Buenos Aires parks, the garden has the first Ginkgo biloba planted in Argentina. Completed in 1898, it bears his name, the Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, one greenhouse, was first erected at the Paris Exposition of 1889 and brought in sections from France to be reassembled, one of five in the garden. A brick house in the English Gothic Revival style, in which he lived during the construction and planting of the garden, now houses the herbarium, Thays also designed the grounds of the luxurious Club Hotel de la Ventana, near Sierra de La Ventana in Buenos Aires Province. Thays worked most extensively in Buenos Aires precisely at a period in the history where it was growing extremely fast as a result of immigration, especially from Spain. It is often noted that had Thays not insisted on standards of design and frequent open spaces. Next to the Perito Francisco Moreno and other prominent figures founded July 4,1912 Boy Scouts Association of Argentina, Thays died in Buenos Aires in 1934
22.
Florentino Ameghino
–
Along with his two brothers –Carlos and Juan– Florentino Ameghino was one of the most important founding figures in South American paleontology. Born in Luján, son of Italian immigrants, Ameghino was a self-taught naturalist and he formed one of the largest collections of fossils of the world at the time, which served him as base for numerous geological and paleontological studies. Ameghino was a pioneer in the development of phylogenetics and of the paleontological approach of evolutionary biology. He also investigated the presence of prehistoric man in the Pampas. Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, president of Argentina 1868–1874, described Ameghino as a countryman from Mercedes that nobody knows of here, the Antiquity of Man in the Río de la Plata, later translated into French, was published in 1878. He later directed the Department of Zoology at the National University of Córdoba, which awarded him with an honorary doctorate, and was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina. Ameghino worked with Francisco P. Moreno, founder and director of the La Plata Museum, as deputy director, secretary, Ameghino enriched his department with his own collection, which he sold to the provincial government for the purpose. But it was little time in which two scientists worked together. A year later his magnum opus appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Mammalian Fossils in the Argentine Republic, comprising 1028 pages and an atlas. This latter contribution to the knowledge of the mammals of Argentina won the bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris. Ameghino returned between 1907 and 1911 to his dedication, anthropology, the descriptions of the first inhabitants. His published works include 24 volumes of between 700 and 800 pages each, containing classifications, studies, comparisons and descriptions of more than 9000 extinct animals, many discovered by him. This was an important contribution to the catalog of extinct mammals. He died from the symptoms of diabetes in Buenos Aires in 1911, the Ameghino Crater on the Moon is named in his honor. The Florentino Ameghino Partido and its county seat of Ameghino, situated in the north-west of Buenos Aires Province, are named after him. Several Argentine cities are named Florentino Ameghino as well as educational institutions across the country, libraries and museums, squares, schools, parks. Official Web of the petrified forest Bosque Petrificado Florentino Ameghino - Trelew, Chubut, Patagonia, Florentino Ameghino biography Florentino Ameghino, su vida y sus obras Garate, Justo. Shampo, M A, Kyle R A. Argentinian paleontologist contributes to the understanding of humans and the environment
23.
Santa Cruz Province, Argentina
–
Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina, located in the southern part of the country, in Patagonia. It borders Chubut province to the north, and Chile to the west, Santa Cruz is the second-largest province of the country, and the least densely populated in mainland Argentina. The indigenous people of the province are the Tehuelches, who despite European exploration from the 16th century onwards, soon after the Conquest of the Desert in the 1870s, the area was organised as the Territory of Santa Cruz, named after its original capital in Puerto Santa Cruz. The capital moved to Rio Gallegos in 1888 and has remained ever since. Immigrants from various European countries came to the territory in the late 19th, Santa Cruz became a province of Argentina in 1957. The Tehuelches inhabited these lands before the arrivals of the Spanish colonisation, in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan arrived to what is currently known as San Julián Bay. 15 years later Martín de Alcazaba explored the area near the Chico River, in the middle of the 18th century, the Jesuits settled in the area, establishing a few missions. When the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created in 1776, antonio de Biedma founded Nueva Colonia near present Puerto Deseado and Floridablanca not far from Puerto San Julián, both of them shut down later by Viceroy Vertíz. Between 1825 and 1836 there were a series of explorations of the regions, in 1860 commander Luis Piedrabuena established a base on Isla Pavón in the estuary of Puerto Deseado. In 1901 the capital was moved to its current location at the city of Río Gallegos, at the beginning of 20th century, a large European immigration began to arrive to the almost uninhabited zone, Spanish, Germans, British and Slavs were the most numerous among them. They came mainly to escape the growing conflicts of World War I, the end of the war meant a sharp reduction in the amount of exports, bringing a serious economic crisis to Santa Cruz. The ideals of progressivism, brought by the Spanish immigrants, grew among the workers who, working in Santa Cruzs harsh environment under often sub-human conditions, decided to strike in 1922. The strike was severely and harshly repressed by the government, culminating in the events of the Patagonia Trágica, in 1944 the Military zone of Comodoro Rivadavia was created, which encompassed the northern part of the National Government of Santa Cruz and the southern part of Chubut Province. This jurisdiction lasted until the abolition of the measures in 1955, the Territory of Santa Cruz acquired province status in 1957. In 1973, voters in Santa Cruz elected Jorge Cepernic, a Peronist, an advocate of labor rights, Gov. Cepernic worked with film maker Osvaldo Bayer to make La Patagonia Rebelde, a documentary drama on the ill-fated 1922 sheep ranch laborers strike. For this, Gov. Cepernic was imprisoned following the March,1976, elected mayor in 1987 and governor in 1991, Kirchner helped negotiate a US$535 million payout for his province following the 1993 privatization of the state-owned oil concern YPF. Presiding over four years of expansion totalling 42%, Pres, Kirchner steered record spending into public works. To the west, the Andes at these latitudes are lower than in the centre and north of Argentina, an immense ice sheet feeds the numerous glaciers
24.
American Alliance of Museums
–
AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. AAM is the organization representing the entire scope of museums and professionals and nonpaid staff who work for. AAM currently represents more than 25,000 individual museum professionals, at the 2014 American Alliance of Museums conference, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced there are now at least 35,000 museums in the US. 1906, Foundation 1911, Directory of North and South American museums published 1923, Headquarters established in Washington, the M&T Network is the AAM link between museums and media technologies. As such, it identifies, examines, and advocates appropriate uses of technologies in helping museums meet the needs of their diverse publics. Membership is limited to institutions or individuals that are members of AAM, the mission of the M&T is to identify, access, and advocate a broad variety of program uses for media and technology in helping museum professionals meet the needs of their diverse publics. The Spark is the first comprehensive plan in AAM’s recent history. It articulates a vision for museums, the field and AAM, the mission highlights AAMs commitment to leadership, advocacy, collaboration and service. The Spark contains four goals, excellence, advocacy, sustainability and alignment
25.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
26.
Henry Augustus Ward
–
Henry Augustus Ward was an American naturalist and geologist, born in Rochester, New York. Subsequently, he traveled in West Africa and the West Indies, in 1860, he returned to Rochester where he was professor at the University of Rochester until 1865. In Rochester, he founded Wards Natural Science, an enterprise of its kind, which collected specimens from all parts of the world. He died on July 4,1906, after being struck by an automobile in Buffalo and his ashes were interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in a niche in his granite monument. His monument is surmounted by a glacial erratic boulder which shows jasper inclusions and he found the boulder north of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada Wards brain was contributed to the Wilder Brain Collection at Cornell University. Wards Natural Science Wards Natural Science History Henry A. Ward by Robert G. Koch Henry Augustus Ward at Find a Grave
27.
Cenozoic
–
The Cenozoic Era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras, following the Mesozoic Era and covering the period from 66 million years ago to the present day. The Cenozoic is also known as the Age of Mammals, because of the mammals that dominated, such as Entelodont, Paraceratherium. The extinction of many large groups such as non-avian dinosaurs, Plesiosauria and Pterosauria allowed the mammals and birds to greatly diversify. Early in the Cenozoic, following the K-Pg event, the planet was dominated by relatively small fauna, including mammals, birds, reptiles. From a geological perspective, it did not take long for mammals, some flightless birds grew larger than humans. These species are referred to as terror birds, and were formidable predators. Mammals came to occupy almost every available niche, and some also grew very large, the Earths climate had begun a drying and cooling trend, culminating in the glaciations of the Pleistocene Epoch, and partially offset by the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. The continents also began looking roughly familiar at this time and moved into their current positions. The Cenozoic is divided into three periods, the Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary, and seven epochs, the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene. The common use of epochs during the Cenozoic helps paleontologists better organize, there is also more detailed knowledge of this era than any other because of the relatively young, well-preserved rocks associated with it. The Paleogene spans from the extinction of dinosaurs,66 million years ago. It features three epochs, the Paleocene, Eocene and Oligocene, the Paleocene ranged from 66 million to 56 million years ago. The Paleocene is a point between the devastation that is the K-T extinction, to the rich jungles environment that is the Early Eocene. The Early Paleocene saw the recovery of the earth, the continents began to take their modern shape, but all the continents and subcontinent India were separated from each other. Afro-Eurasia was separated by the Tethys Sea, and the Americas were separated by the strait of Panama and this epoch featured a general warming trend, with jungles eventually reaching the poles. The oceans were dominated by sharks as the large reptiles that had once ruled became extinct, archaic mammals filled the world such as creodonts and early primates that evolved during the Mesozoic, and as a result, there was nothing over 10 kilograms. The Eocene Epoch ranged from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago, in the Early-Eocene, life was small and lived in cramped jungles, much like the Paleocene. There was nothing over the weight of 10 kilograms, among them were early primates, whales and horses along with many other early forms of mammals
28.
Pampas
–
These vast plains are a natural region only interrupted by the low Ventana and Tandil hills near Bahía Blanca and Tandil, with a height of 1,300 m and 500 m, respectively. The climate is warm, with precipitation of 600 to 1,200 mm, more or less evenly distributed through the year and this area is also one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger Paraná-Paraguay Plain division. These plains contain unique wildlife because of the different terrains around it, some of this wildlife includes the rhea, the pampas deer, several species of armadillos, the pampas fox, the white-eared opossum, the elegant crested tinamou, and several other species. The climate of the Pampas is generally temperate, gradually giving way to a subtropical climate in the north. Summer temperatures are more uniform than winter temperatures, generally ranging from 28 to 33 °C during the day, however, most cities in the Pampas occasionally have high temperatures that push 38 °C. This occurs when a warm, dry, northerly wind blows from southern Brazil, autumn arrives gradually in March, and peaks in April and May. In April, highs range from 20 to 25 °C and lows from 9 to 13 °C, the first frosts arrive in mid-April in the south, and in late May or early June in the north. Winters are generally mild, although cold waves do occur, normal temperatures range from 12 to 19 °C during the day, and from 1 to 6 °C at night. With strong northerly winds, days of over 25 °C can be recorded almost everywhere, whereas during cold waves, frost occurs everywhere in the Pampas, although it is much more frequent in the southwest, and less so around the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Temperatures under −5 °C can occur everywhere, whereas values of −10 °C or lower are confined to the south, snow never falls in the northernmost third, and is rare and light elsewhere, except for exceptional events where depths have reached 30 cm. Springs are very variable, it is warmer than fall in most areas, violent storms are more common, as well as wide temperature variations, days of 35 °C can give way to nights of under 5 °C or even frost, all within only a few days. Precipitation ranges from 1,200 mm in the northeast, to about 500 mm in the southern and western edges. In the west, it is seasonal, with some places recording averages of 120 mm monthly in the summer. The eastern areas have small peaks in the fall and in the spring, however, where summer rain falls as short, heavy storms, winter rain falls mostly as cold drizzle, so that the amount of rainy days is fairly constant. Very intense thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer, and it has among the most frequent lightning, the severe thunderstorms produce intense hailstorms, and both floods and flash floods, as well as the most consistently active tornado region outside the central and southeastern US. Frequent wildfires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish, the dominant vegetation types are grassy prairie and grass steppe in which numerous species of the grass genus Stipa are particularly conspicuous. Pampas grass is a species of the Pampas. Vegetation typically includes perennial grasses and herbs, different strata of grasses occur because of gradients of water availability
29.
Trilobite
–
Trilobites are a fossil group of extinct marine arachnomorph arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods, Trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 250 million years ago. The trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, by the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, a fossil record was left behind. The study of fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology. Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha, Trilobites had many lifestyles, some moved over the sea bed as predators, scavengers, or filter feeders, and some swam, feeding on plankton. Most lifestyles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, some trilobites are even thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food. The earliest trilobites known from the record are redlichiids and ptychopariid bigotinids dated to some 540 to 520 million years ago. Contenders for the earliest trilobites include Profallotaspis jakutensis, Fritzaspis spp, all trilobites are thought to have originated in present-day Siberia, with subsequent distribution and radiation from this location. All Olenellina lack facial sutures, and this is thought to represent the original state, other groups show secondary lost facial sutures, such as all Agnostina and some Phacopina. Earlier trilobites may be found and could shed light on the origin of trilobites. Three specimens of a trilobite from Morocco, Megistaspis hammondi, dated 478 million years old contain fossilized soft parts. Early trilobites show all the features of the group as a whole. Morphological similarities between early trilobites and other Cambrian arthropods make analysis of ancestral relationships difficult, however, that trilobites share a common ancestor with other arthropods before the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary is still reasonable to assume. Changes also included narrowing of the thorax and increasing or decreasing numbers of thoracic segments, specific changes to the cephalon are also noted, variable glabella size and shape, position of eyes and facial sutures, and hypostome specialization. Several morphologies appeared independently within different major taxa, effacement, the loss of surface detail in the cephalon, pygidium, or the thoracic furrows, is also a common evolutionary trend. Notable examples of this were the orders Agnostida and Asaphida, effacement is believed to be an indication of either a burrowing lifestyle or a pelagic one. Effacement poses a problem for taxonomists since the loss of details can make the determination of phylogenetic relationships difficult, tectonic breakup of Pannotia then allowed for the diversification and radiation expressed later in the Cambrian as the distinctive olenellid province and the separate redlichid province
30.
Cambrian
–
The Cambrian Period was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 55.6 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 541 million years ago to the beginning of the Ordovician Period 485.4 mya and its subdivisions, and its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latinised form of Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, as a result, our understanding of the Cambrian biology surpasses that of some later periods. The rapid diversification of lifeforms in the Cambrian, known as the Cambrian explosion, most of the continents were probably dry and rocky due to a lack of vegetation. Shallow seas flanked the margins of several continents created during the breakup of the supercontinent Pannotia, the seas were relatively warm, and polar ice was absent for much of the period. The United States Federal Geographic Data Committee uses a barred capital C ⟨Є⟩ character similar to the capital letter Ukrainian Ye ⟨Є⟩ to represent the Cambrian Period, the proper Unicode character is U+A792 Ꞓ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH BAR. Despite the long recognition of its distinction from younger Ordovician Period rocks and older Supereon Precambrian rocks, the base of the Cambrian lies atop a complex assemblage of trace fossils known as the Treptichnus pedum assemblage. Pedum in Namibia, Spain and Newfoundland, and possibly, in the western USA, the stratigraphic range of T. pedum overlaps the range of the Ediacaran fossils in Namibia, and probably in Spain. The Cambrian Period followed the Ediacaran Period and was followed by the Ordovician Period, the Cambrian is divided into four epochs and ten ages. Currently only two series and five stages are named and have a GSSP, because the international stratigraphic subdivision is not yet complete, many local subdivisions are still widely used. In some of these subdivisions the Cambrian is divided into three epochs with locally differing names – the Early Cambrian, Middle Cambrian and Furongian, rocks of these epochs are referred to as belonging to the Lower, Middle, or Upper Cambrian. Trilobite zones allow biostratigraphic correlation in the Cambrian, each of the local epochs is divided into several stages. The International Commission on Stratigraphy list the Cambrian period as beginning at 541 million years ago, the lower boundary of the Cambrian was originally held to represent the first appearance of complex life, represented by trilobites. The recognition of small shelly fossils before the first trilobites, and Ediacara biota substantially earlier and this formal designation allowed radiometric dates to be obtained from samples across the globe that corresponded to the base of the Cambrian. Early dates of 570 million years ago quickly gained favour, though the used to obtain this number are now considered to be unsuitable. A more precise date using modern radiometric dating yield a date of 541 ±0.3 million years ago, most continental land was clustered in the Southern Hemisphere at this time, but was drifting north. Large, high-velocity rotational movement of Gondwana appears to have occurred in the Early Cambrian, the sea levels fluctuated somewhat, suggesting there were ice ages, associated with pulses of expansion and contraction of a south polar ice cap. In Baltoscandia a Lower Cambrian transgression transformed large swathes of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain into a epicontinental sea, the Earth was generally cold during the early Cambrian, probably due to the ancient continent of Gondwana covering the South Pole and cutting off polar ocean currents
31.
Graptolithina
–
Graptolithina is a class of hemichordate animal, the members of which are known as graptolites. Graptolites are colonial animals known chiefly as fossils from the Upper Cambrian through the Lower Carboniferous, a possible early graptolite, Chaunograptus, is known from the Middle Cambrian. The name graptolite comes from the Greek graptos, meaning written, Linnaeus originally regarded them as pictures resembling fossils rather than true fossils, though later workers supposed them to be related to the hydrozoans. More recent work places them near the pterobranchs, possibly within, one analysis suggests that the Pterobranchia represent extant graptolites. The name graptolite originates from the genus Graptolithus, which was used by Linnaeus in 1735 for inorganic mineralizations and crustations which resembled actual fossils. In 1768, in the 12th volume of Systema Naturae, he included G. sagittarius and G. scalaris, respectively a possible plant fossil and a possible graptolite. In his 1751 Skånska Resa, he included a figure of a fossil or graptolite of a kind currently thought to be a type of Climacograptus. Later workers used the name to refer to a group of organisms. Graptolithus was officially abandoned in 1954 by the ICZN, partly because of its purpose as a grouping for inorganic mimicries of fossils. Comparisons are drawn with the modern hemichordates Cephalodiscus and Rhabdopleura, Cephalodiscus numbers about 18 species, and was first discovered in 1882. Graptolites are common fossils and have a worldwide distribution, the preservation, quantity and gradual change over a geologic time scale of graptolites allows the fossils to be used to date strata of rocks throughout the world. They are important index fossils for dating Palaeozoic rocks as they evolved rapidly with time, british geologists can divide the rocks of the Ordovician and Silurian periods into graptolite biozones, these are generally less than one million years in duration. A worldwide ice age at the end of the Ordovician eliminated most graptolites except the neograptines, diversification from the neograptines that survived the Ordovician glaciation began around 2 million years later. Graptolites are also used to water depth and temperature during the graptolites lifetimes. Each graptolite colony is known as a rhabdosome and has a number of branches originating from an initial individual. Each subsequent individual is housed within a tubular or cup-like structure, in some colonies, there are two sizes of theca, and it has been suggested that this difference is due to sexual dimorphism. The number of branches and the arrangement of the thecae are important features in the identification of graptolite fossils and their general shape has been compared with that of a hacksaw blade. Most of the dendritic or many-branched types are classified as dendroid graptolites and they appear earlier in the fossil record, and were generally sessile animals
32.
Silurian
–
The Silurian is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at 443.8 million years ago, to the beginning of the Devonian Period,419.2 Mya. As with other periods, the rock beds that define the periods start and end are well identified. The base of the Silurian is set at a major Ordovician-Silurian extinction event when 60% of marine species were wiped out, a significant evolutionary milestone during the Silurian was the diversification of jawed and bony fish. However, terrestrial life would not greatly diversify and affect the landscape until the Devonian, the Silurian system was first identified by British geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, who was examining fossil-bearing sedimentary rock strata in south Wales in the early 1830s. He named the sequences for a Celtic tribe of Wales, the Silures, inspired by his friend Adam Sedgwick and this naming does not indicate any correlation between the occurrence of the Silurian rocks and the land inhabited by the Silures. As it was first identified, the Silurian series when traced farther afield quickly came to overlap Sedgwicks Cambrian sequence, however, charles Lapworth resolved the conflict by defining a new Ordovician system including the contested beds. An early alternative name for the Silurian was Gotlandian after the strata of the Baltic island of Gotland, the French geologist Joachim Barrande, building on Murchisons work, used the term Silurian in a more comprehensive sense than was justified by subsequent knowledge. He divided the Silurian rocks of Bohemia into eight stages and his interpretation was questioned in 1854 by Edward Forbes, and the later stages of Barrande, F, G and H, have since been shown to be Devonian. Despite these modifications in the groupings of the strata, it is recognized that Barrande established Bohemia as a classic ground for the study of the earliest fossils. The epoch is named for the town of Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, the Wenlock, which lasted from 433.4 ±1.5 to 427.4 ±2.8 mya, is subdivided into the Sheinwoodian and Homerian ages. It is named after Wenlock Edge in Shropshire, England, during the Wenlock, the oldest known tracheophytes of the genus Cooksonia, appear. The first terrestrial animals also appear in the Wenlock, represented by air-breathing millipedes from Scotland. The Ludlow, lasting from 427.4 ±1.5 to 423 ±2.8 mya, comprises the Gorstian stage, lasting until 425.6 million years ago, and it is named for the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. The Pridoli, lasting from 423 ±1.5 to 419.2 ±2.8 mya, is the final and it is named after one locality at the Homolka a Přídolí nature reserve near the Prague suburb Slivenec in the Czech Republic. Přídolí is the old name of a field area. The high sea levels of the Silurian and the flat land resulted in a number of island chains. The southern continents remained united during this period, the melting of icecaps and glaciers contributed to a rise in sea level, recognizable from the fact that Silurian sediments overlie eroded Ordovician sediments, forming an unconformity. The continents of Avalonia, Baltica, and Laurentia drifted together near the equator and this event is the Caledonian orogeny, a spate of mountain building that stretched from New York State through conjoined Europe and Greenland to Norway
33.
Zoology
–
The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion, i. e. animal and λόγος, logos, i. e. knowledge, study. The history of zoology traces the study of the kingdom from ancient to modern times. This ancient work was developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians. During the Renaissance and early period, zoological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism. Microscopy revealed the unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, over the 18th and 19th centuries, zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction, cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur. Darwin gave new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a biological theory. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation, cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behavior, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single-celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences, the similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology. Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems and it focuses on how organs and organ systems work together in the bodies of humans and animals, in addition to how they work independently. Anatomy and cell biology are two studies that are related, and can be categorized under structural studies. Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the function as a whole. The theme of structure to function is central to biology, for example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of physiology to non-human species
34.
Entomology
–
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. This wider meaning may still be encountered in informal use, Entomology is rooted in nearly all human cultures from prehistoric times, primarily in the context of agriculture, but scientific study began only as recently as the 16th century. William Kirby is widely considered as the father of Entomology, in collaboration with William Spence, he published a definitive entomological encyclopedia, Introduction to Entomology, regarded as the subjects foundational text. He also helped to found the Royal Entomological Society in London in 1833, one of the earliest such societies in the world, earlier antecedents, such as the Aurelian society date back to the 1740s. There has also been a history of people becoming entomologists through museum curation and research assistance, insect identification is an increasingly common hobby, with butterflies and dragonflies being the most popular. Most insects can easily be recognized to such as Hymenoptera or Coleoptera. However, insects other than Lepidoptera are typically identifiable to genus or species only through the use of Identification keys and Monographs. Because the class Insecta contains a large number of species and the characteristics separating them are unfamiliar, and often subtle. This has led to the development of automated species identification systems targeted on insects, for example, Daisy, ABIS, SPIDA, in 1994 the Entomological Society of America launched a new professional certification program for the pest control industry called The Associate Certified Entomologist. To qualify as a true entomologist an individual would require an advanced degree. Trichopterology - caddis flies Vespology - Social wasps Like other scientific specialties, entomologists have a number of local, national, there are also many organizations specializing in specific subareas. C. Y. Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas University of Minnesota, big Fleas Have Little Fleas, How Discoveries of Invertebrate Diseases Are Advancing Modern Science University of Arizona Press, Tucson,208 pages, ISBN 0-8165-2544-7. Triplehorn, Charles A. and Norman F. Johnson, borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, Thomas Brooks/Cole. — a classic textbook in North America, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Capinera, JL.2008. Iowa State Entomology Index of Internet Resources, archived from the original on 2006-11-14. Archived from the original on 2006-12-06, archived from the original on 2007-02-07. Compendium of References on Flies and Disease, archived from the original on 2006-10-15. USDA Collecting methods. Detailed instructions Arthropa Extensive photo album sorted by topic, Tereshkin Scientific illustration in entomology Tereshkin, A.2008, Methodology of a scientific drawings preparation in entomology on example of ichneumon flies
35.
Botany
–
Botany, also called plant science, plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field, the term botany comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη meaning pasture, grass, or fodder, βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν, to feed or to graze. Nowadays, botanists study approximately 410,000 species of plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants. Medieval physic gardens, often attached to monasteries, contained plants of medical importance and they were forerunners of the first botanical gardens attached to universities, founded from the 1540s onwards. One of the earliest was the Padua botanical garden and these gardens facilitated the academic study of plants. Efforts to catalogue and describe their collections were the beginnings of plant taxonomy, in the last two decades of the 20th century, botanists exploited the techniques of molecular genetic analysis, including genomics and proteomics and DNA sequences to classify plants more accurately. Modern botany is a broad, multidisciplinary subject with inputs from most other areas of science, dominant themes in 21st century plant science are molecular genetics and epigenetics, which are the mechanisms and control of gene expression during differentiation of plant cells and tissues. Botany originated as herbalism, the study and use of plants for their medicinal properties, many records of the Holocene period date early botanical knowledge as far back as 10,000 years ago. This early unrecorded knowledge of plants was discovered in ancient sites of human occupation within Tennessee, the early recorded history of botany includes many ancient writings and plant classifications. Examples of early works have been found in ancient texts from India dating back to before 1100 BC, in archaic Avestan writings. His major works, Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants, constitute the most important contributions to science until the Middle Ages. De Materia Medica was widely read for more than 1,500 years, important contributions from the medieval Muslim world include Ibn Wahshiyyas Nabatean Agriculture, Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarīs the Book of Plants, and Ibn Bassals The Classification of Soils. In the early 13th century, Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati, and Ibn al-Baitar wrote on botany in a systematic and scientific manner and these gardens continued the practical value of earlier physic gardens, often associated with monasteries, in which plants were cultivated for medical use. They supported the growth of botany as an academic subject, lectures were given about the plants grown in the gardens and their medical uses demonstrated. Botanical gardens came much later to northern Europe, the first in England was the University of Oxford Botanic Garden in 1621, throughout this period, botany remained firmly subordinate to medicine. German physician Leonhart Fuchs was one of the three German fathers of botany, along with theologian Otto Brunfels and physician Hieronymus Bock, Fuchs and Brunfels broke away from the tradition of copying earlier works to make original observations of their own. Bock created his own system of plant classification, physician Valerius Cordus authored a botanically and pharmacologically important herbal Historia Plantarum in 1544 and a pharmacopoeia of lasting importance, the Dispensatorium in 1546. Naturalist Conrad von Gesner and herbalist John Gerard published herbals covering the medicinal uses of plants, naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi was considered the father of natural history, which included the study of plants
36.
Archaeology
–
Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology, archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of palaeontology, Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies across the world, Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected to learn more about the past, in broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology, the looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, the science of archaeology grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism. Antiquarians studied history with attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts. Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, in Europe, philosophical interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Antiquarians, including John Leland and William Camden, conducted surveys of the English countryside, one of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings and he attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and these excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, however, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard, the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington and he undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, one of the major achievements of 19th century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy. The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith, James Hutton, the application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites
37.
Ethnography
–
Ethnography is the systematic study of people and cultures. It is designed to explore cultural phenomena where the researcher observes society from the point of view of the subject of the study, an ethnography is a means to represent graphically and in writing the culture of a group. The word can thus be said to have a double meaning, the resulting field study or a case report reflects the knowledge and the system of meanings in the lives of a cultural group. The typical ethnography is a study and so includes a brief history, and an analysis of the terrain, the climate. In all cases it should be reflexive, make a contribution toward the understanding of the social life of humans, have an aesthetic impact on the reader. An ethnography records all observed behavior and describes all symbol-meaning relations, the word ethnography is derived from the Greek ἔθνος, meaning a company, later a people, nation and -graphy meaning field of study. Ethnographic studies focus on large groups of people who interact over time. Ethnography is a design, where the researcher explains about shared learnt patterns of values, behaviour, beliefs. The field of anthropology originated from Europe and England designed in late 19th century and it spread its roots to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the main contributors like EB Tylor from Britain and Lewis H Morgan, franz Boas, Bronislaw Malinowski, Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, were a group of researchers from United States who contributed the idea of cultural relativism to the literature. He gives the point of the native and this became the origin of field work. Since Malinowski was very firm with his approach he applied it practically and he was interested in learning the language of the islanders and stayed there for a long time doing his field work. The field of ethnography became very popular in the late 19th century, again, in the latter part of the 19th century, the field of anthropology became a good support for scientific formation. Though the field was flourishing it had a lot of threat to encounter, post colonialism, the research climate shifted towards post-modernism and feminism. Therefore, the field of anthropology moved into discipline of social science, gerhard Friedrich Müller developed the concept of ethnography as a separate discipline whilst participating in the Second Kamchatka Expedition as a professor of history and geography. Whilst involved in the expedition, he differentiated Völker-Beschreibung as an area of study. This became known as ethnography, following the introduction of the Greek neologism ethnographia by Johann Friedrich Schöpperlin, there are different forms of ethnography, confessional ethnography, life history, feminist ethnography etc. Two popular forms of ethnography are realist ethnography and critical ethnography, realist ethnography, is a traditional approach used by cultural anthropologists
38.
Peru
–
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence, subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability, Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is a country with a high Human Development Index score. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, the Peruvian population, estimated at 31.2 million in 2015, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages and this mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. The name of the country may be derived from Birú, the name of a ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans, thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú. An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilasco de la Vega, son of an Inca princess, the Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, the earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 BC. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using such as irrigation and terracing, camelid husbandry. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money, the oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal, the Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC along what is now Perus Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture. The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, on the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, and the more outstanding Chimu and Mochica. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo, in the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America with their capital in Cusco
39.
Aksha, Sudan
–
Aksha is an ancient Egyptian temple, rebuilt in part at the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum. The temple was built around 1250 BC by Ramses II and it is situated in the far north of present-day Sudan, a few kilometers south of Faras, on the west side of the Nile. On the temple walls, several sacrifices are depicted, the location of the temple was not well chosen, as it is only a few inches above the high tide of the Nile. This resulted in penetration of the lower layers, salt crystallization on the wall surfaces. In addition, the temple was preyed upon by the local population, other finds at the site include cemeteries, parts of Qubanstele, and the stele with the blessings of Ptah. The 1963 excavations of Aksha were initiated because of the construction of the Aswan Dam, one of the discoveries included a relatively well-preserved temple wall, the western wall of the courtyard. Along its entire length, it contains a carved list of the nations which Ramses II. After the temple was deemed worthy of preservation, archaeologists from the University of Ghana sawed the wall into individual blocks and it was rebuilt in the garden of the National Museum, protected by a pavilion. Friedrich W. Hinkel, Auszug aus Nubien, auke A. Tadema, Bob Tadema Sporry, Unternehmen Pharao. Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 1978, ISBN 3-7857-0213-2
40.
Inca Empire
–
The Inca Empire, also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the largest empire in the world in the early 16th century. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru, the Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572, from 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the son of the sun, the Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many features associated with civilization in the Old world. In the words of one scholar, The Incas lacked the use of wheeled vehicles, the Incan economy has been described as feudal, slave, socialist. The economy functioned largely without money and without markets, instead, exchange of goods and services was based on reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers. Taxes consisted of an obligation of a person to the Empire. The Inca rulers reciprocated by granting access to land and goods and providing food, the Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, the four suyu. The four suyu were, Chinchaysuyu, Antisuyu, Qullasuyu and Kuntisuyu, the name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating a union of provinces. The Spanish transliterated the name as Tahuatinsuyo or Tahuatinsuyu, the term Inka means ruler or lord in Quechua and was used to refer to the ruling class or the ruling family. The Incas were a small percentage of the total population of the empire, probably numbering only 15,000 to 40,000. The Spanish adopted the term as a term referring to all subjects of the empire rather than simply the ruling class. As such the name Imperio inca referred to the nation that they encountered, the Inca people were a pastoral tribe in the Cusco area around the 12th century. Incan oral history tells a story of three caves. The center cave at Tampu Tuqu was named Qhapaq Tuqu, the other caves were Maras Tuqu and Sutiq Tuqu. Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave and they were, Ayar Manco, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Awqa and Ayar Uchu, and Mama Ocllo, Mama Raua, Mama Huaco and Mama Qura. Out of the side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the Inca clans, Ayar Manco carried a magic staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would live and they traveled for a long time
41.
Discovery of the Americas
–
The prehistory of the Americas begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age. The ancestors of todays American Indigenous peoples were the Paleo-Indians, they were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America, the most popular theory asserts that migrants came to the Americas via Beringia, the land mass now covered by the cold ocean waters in the Bering Strait. Small lithic stage peoples followed megafauna like bison, mammoth, and caribou, groups of people may also have traveled into North America on shelf or sheet ice along the northern Pacific coast. Cultural traits brought by the first immigrants later evolved and spawned such cultures as Iroquois on North America and these cultures later developed into civilizations. In many cases, these cultures expanded at a date than their Old World counterparts. Spain colonized most of the American continent from present-day Southwestern United States, Florida, Portugal settled in what is mostly present-day Brazil while England established colonies in the Eastern coast of the United States, as well as the North Pacific coast and most of Canada. France settled in Quebec and other parts of Eastern Canada and claimed an area in what is today the central United States, the Netherlands settled New Netherlands, some Caribbean islands and parts of Northern South America. The colonial period lasted three centuries, from the early 16th to the early 19th centuries, when Brazil and the larger Hispanic American nations declared independence. The United States obtained independence from England much earlier, in 1776, others remained attached to their European parent state until the end of the 19th century, such as Cuba and Puerto Rico which were linked to Spain until 1898. Smaller territories such as Guyana obtained independence in the mid-20th century, the specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific Northwest coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea rise of a hundred meters following the last ice age. Archaeologists contend that the Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia, ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago and this time range is a hot source of debate. Amerindian groups in the Bering Strait region exhibit perhaps the strongest DNA or mitochondrial DNA relations to Siberian peoples, the genetic diversity of Amerindian indigenous groups increase with distance from the assumed entry point into the Americas. Certain genetic diversity patterns from West to East suggest, particularly in South America, that migration proceeded first down the west coast, geneticists have variously estimated that peoples of Asia and the Americas were part of the same population from 42,000 to 21,000 years ago. First, it shows that Upper Paleolithic Siberians came from a population of early modern humans that spread out of Africa to Europe and Central. Second, Paleoindian skeletons with phenotypic traits atypical of modern-day Native Americans can be explained as having a historical connection to Upper Paleolithic Siberia. A route through Beringia is seen as more likely than the Solutrean hypothesis, on October 3,2014, the Oregon cave, where the oldest DNA evidence of human habitation in North America was found, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
42.
Osteology
–
Osteology is the scientific study of bones, practiced by osteologists. Often used by scientists with identification of remains with regard to age, death, sex, growth. Osteology and osteologists should not be confused with the practice of medicine known as osteopathy and its practitioners. These 25 skeletal remains, along many more that were found in further searches, are said to be among the mass grave dug to bury the millions of victims of the Black Death in the 14th century. It was discovered that most of the population was in poor health to begin with. Through extensive analysis of the bones, it was discovered many of the inhabitants of Great Britain were plagued with rickets, anemia. There has also been frequent evidence that much of the population had traces of broken bones from frequent fighting and this archaeological project has been named the Crossrail Project. Archaeologists will continue to excavate and search for remains to help uncover missing pieces of history and these advancements in our past will only be further developed through more extensive research of other skeletons buried in the same area for years to come. Osteometric points Museum of Osteology Forensic Anthropology Paleontology Bone Clones Bass, Human Osteology, A Laboratory and Field Manual. Buikstra, J. E. and Ubelaker, D. H.1994, standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series No.44, cox, M and Mays, S.2000. Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science, british Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology Museum of Osteology
43.
Timeline of the evolutionary history of life
–
This timeline of the evolutionary history of life represents the current scientific theory outlining the major events during the development of life on planet Earth. In biology, evolution is any change across generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of organization, from kingdoms to species. The similarities between all present day organisms indicate the presence of an ancestor from which all known species, living. More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to five billion species. Estimates on the number of Earths current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. Species go extinct constantly as environments change, organisms compete for environmental niches, occasionally biodiversity on the planet takes a hit in the form of a mass extinction in which the extinction rate is much higher than usual. A large extinction event often represents an accumulation of smaller extinction events that take place in a brief period of time. The first known mass extinction in earths history was the Great Oxygenation Event 2.4 billion years ago, the event led to the loss of most of the planets obligate anaerobes. The Holocene extinction event is currently under way, in this timeline, Ma means million years ago, ka means thousand years ago, and ya means years ago. 4000 Ma –2500 Ma 2500 Ma –542 Ma, contains the Palaeoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic eras. 542 Ma – present The Phanerozoic Eon, literally the period of well-displayed life, marks the appearance in the record of abundant. It is subdivided into three eras, the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic, which are divided by mass extinctions. 542 Ma –251.0 Ma and contains the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, from 251.4 Ma to 66 Ma and containing the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. 66 Ma – present Dawkins, Richard, the Ancestors Tale, A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life. Understanding Evolution, your one-stop resource for information on evolution, explore complete phylogenetic tree interactively Brandt, Niel. Houston, TX, The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc, interactive timeline from Big Bang to present Plant Evolution. Sequence of Plant Evolution The History of Animal Evolution, sequence of Animal Evolution Yeo, Dannel, Drage, Thomas
44.
Levee
–
A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines, the word levee, from the French word levée, is used in American English. It originated in New Orleans a few years after the founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The name derives from the trait of the ridges being raised higher than both the channel and the surrounding floodplains. The modern word dike or dyke most likely derives from the Dutch word dijk, the 126 kilometres long Westfriese Omringdijk was completed by 1250, and was formed by connecting existing older dikes. The Roman chronicler Tacitus even mentions that the rebellious Batavi pierced dikes to flood their land, the word dijk originally indicated both the trench and the bank. It is closely related to the English verb to dig, in Anglo-Saxon, the word dic already existed and was pronounced as dick in northern England and as ditch in the south. Similar to Dutch, the English origins of the lie in digging a trench. This practice has meant that the name may be given to either the excavation or the bank, thus Offas Dyke is a combined structure and Car Dyke is a trench though it once had raised banks as well. In the midlands and north of England, and in the United States, a dike is what a ditch is in the south, a property boundary marker or small drainage channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a dike as in Rippingale Running Dike. The Weir Dike is a dike in Bourne North Fen, near Twenty and alongside the River Glen. In the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, a dyke may be a ditch or a narrow artificial channel off a river or broad for access or mooring, some longer dykes being named. In parts of Britain, particularly Scotland, a dyke may be a field wall, Levees can be mainly found along the sea, where dunes are not strong enough, along rivers for protection against high-floods, along lakes or along polders. Furthermore, levees have been built for the purpose of empoldering, the latter can be a controlled inundation by the military or a measure to prevent inundation of a larger area surrounded by levees. Levees have also built as field boundaries and as military defences. More on this type of levee can be found in the article on dry-stone walls, Levees can be permanent earthworks or emergency constructions built hastily in a flood emergency. When such a bank is added on top of an existing levee it is known as a cradge
45.
Nile
–
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
Media related to Museo de La Plata collection at Wikimedia Commons