1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Gulf of Guinea
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The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf, among the many rivers that drain into the Gulf of Guinea are the Niger and the Volta. The coastline on the gulf includes the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Bonny, the Niger River in particular deposited organic sediments out to sea over millions of years which became crude oil. The origin of the name Guinea is thought to be an area in the region, bovill gives a thorough description, The name Guinea is usually said to have been a corrupt form of the name Ghana, picked up by the Portuguese in the Maghrib. The present writer finds this unacceptable, the name Guinea has been in use both in the Maghrib and in Europe long before Prince Henrys time. A passage in Leo points to Guinea having been a form of Jenne, less famous than Ghana but nevertheless for many centuries famed in the Maghrib as a great market. The relevant passage reads, The Kingdom of Ghinea. called by the merchants of our nation Gheneoa, by the inhabitants thereof Genni and by the Portugals. But it seems probable that Guinea derives from aguinaou, the Berber for Negro. Marrakech has a gate, built in the century, called the Bab Aguinaou. The modern application of the name Guinea to the coast dates only from 1481, the name Guinea is still attached to the names of three countries in Africa, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea, as well as New Guinea in Melanesia. The main river shedding its waters in the gulf is the Niger River, the Gulf of Guinea contains a number of islands, the largest of which are in a southwest-northeast chain, forming part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes. Annobón, also known as Pagalu or Pigalu, is an island that is part of Equatorial Guinea, bobowasi Island is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Western region Ghana. Bioko is an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Equatorial Guinea, corisco is an island belonging to Equatorial Guinea. Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico are two small islands belonging to Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea that became independent from Portugal in 1975. It is located off the western equatorial coast of Africa and consists of two islands, São Tomé and Príncipe and they are located about 140 kilometres apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres, respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon. Both islands are part of a volcanic mountain range. São Tomé, the southern island, is situated just north of the Equator. Media related to Gulf of Guinea at Wikimedia Commons The Gulf of Guinea Commission - CGG - GGC
Gulf of Guinea
–
Map of the Gulf of Guinea, showing the chain of islands formed by the
Cameroon line of volcanoes.
Gulf of Guinea
–
Satellite imagery of Gulf of Guinea states.
3.
Cameroon Line
–
The Cameroon line is a 1,600 km chain of volcanoes. The islands, which span the equator, have tropical climates and are home to many unique plant, the mainland mountain regions are much cooler than the surrounding lowlands, and also contain unique and ecologically important environments. The Cameroon volcanic line is unusual in extending through both the ocean and the continental crust. Various hypotheses have advanced by different geologists to explain the line. In the Gulf of Guinea, the Cameroon line consists of six offshore volcanic swells that have formed islands or seamounts, from the southwest to the northeast the island groups are Pagalu, São Tomé, Príncipe and Bioko. Two large seamounts lie between São Tomé and Príncipe, and between Principe and Bioko, on the mainland, the line starts with Mount Cameroon and extends northeast in a range known as the Western High Plateau, home to the Cameroonian Highlands forests. Volcanic swells further inland are Manengouba, Bamboutu and the Oku Massif, east of Oku there are further volcanic mountains in the Ngaoundere Plateau, some of which appear to have similar origins. The southernmost island in the chain is Annobón, also known as Pagalu and it is an extinct volcano that rises from deep water to 598 m above sea level. The average temperature is 26.1 °C, with seasonal variation. Most rain falls from November to May, with annual precipitation averaging 1,196 mm - less than on the mainland, Annobón has lush valleys and steep mountains, covered with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation. The island belongs to Equatorial Guinea, the small population lives in one community, practicing some agriculture but mainly living by fishing. São Tomé Island is 854 km2 in area, lying almost on the equator. The entire island is a shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, over 3,000 m below sea level. The oldest rock on Sao Tome is 13 million years old, most of the lava erupted on São Tomé over the last million years has been basalt. The youngest dated rock on the island is about 100,000 years old, due to the prevailing southwesterly winds, there is great variability in rainfall. In the rain shadow to the northeast of Sao Tome the vegetation is dry savannah, by contrast, the lush south and west of the island receive about 6 m of rain, mostly falling in March and April. The climate is hot and humid with the season from October to May. The higher slopes of the island are forested and form part of the Obo National Park, São Tomé has never been connected to Africa, and therefore has many unique plants and birds
Cameroon Line
–
Map of the Gulf of Guinea, showing the chain of islands formed by the Cameroon line of volcanoes.
Cameroon Line
–
Mount Cameroon craters left after the eruptions in 2000
Cameroon Line
–
Rainforest trekking is one of São Tomé's attractions
Cameroon Line
–
Beach scenery on São Tomé.
4.
Forest
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A forest is a large area dominated by trees. Hundreds of more precise definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as density, tree height, land use, legal standing. According to the widely used Food and Agriculture Organization definition, forests covered four billion hectares or approximately 30 percent of the land area in 2006. Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed across the globe, Forests account for 75% of the gross primary productivity of the Earths biosphere, and contain 80% of the Earths plant biomass. Forests at different latitudes and elevations form distinctly different ecozones, boreal forests near the poles, tropical forests near the equator, higher elevation areas tend to support forests similar to those at higher latitudes, and amount of precipitation also affects forest composition. Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways, Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also affect peoples health, human activities, including harvesting forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems. Although forest is a term of common parlance, there is no universally recognised precise definition, there are three broad categories of forest definitions in use, administrative, land use, and land cover. Land use definitions are based upon the purpose that the land serves. For example, a forest may be defined as any land that is used primarily for production of timber, land cover definitions define forests based upon the type and density of vegetation growing on the land. Such definitions typically define a forest as an area growing trees above some threshold and these thresholds are typically the number of trees per area, the area of ground under the tree canopy or the section of land that is occupied by the cross-section of tree trunks. Under such land cover definitions, and area of land only be defined as forest if it is growing trees, areas that fail to meet the land cover definition may be still included under while immature trees are establishing if they are expected to meet the definition at maturity. Under land use definitions, there is variation on where the cutoff points are between a forest, woodland, and savanna. Under some definitions, forests require high levels of tree canopy cover, from 60% to 100%, excluding savannas. Other definitions consider savannas to be a type of forest, the term was not endemic to Romance languages, and cognates in Romance languages, such as Italian foresta, Spanish and Portuguese floresta, etc. are all ultimately borrowings of the French word. The exact origin of Medieval Latin foresta is obscure, uses of the word forest in English to denote any uninhabited area of non-enclosure are now considered archaic. The word was introduced by the Norman rulers of England as a term denoting an uncultivated area legally set aside for hunting by feudal nobility. These hunting forests were not necessarily wooded much, if at all, however, as hunting forests did often include considerable areas of woodland, the word forest eventually came to mean wooded land more generally
Forest
–
A
conifer forest in the
Swiss Alps (
National Park)
Forest
–
The
Adirondack Mountains of
Upstate New York form the southernmost part of the
Eastern forest-boreal transition ecoregion.
Forest
–
Mixed
deciduous forest in
Stara Planina,
Serbia
Forest
–
A gate in a snowy forest
5.
Obo National Park
–
Obo Natural Park or Ôbo Natural Park is a natural park of São Tomé and Príncipe, covering some 235 km² of São Tomé Island in its south and 65 km² of Príncipe Island. Despite its name, it has the category of park of the IUCN. On the larger island, it covers the districts of Me-Zochi, most of Lemba, the natural park was established in 2006 and is the countrys only protected area at the national level. Now there is another protected area created in 2012 and is the Island of Príncipe Biosphere Reserve and is at the international level, several places inside the park includes Bombaim which is next to the nations tallest summit. It has the islands southernmost point along with the countrys at Ilhéu das Rolas, the park is known internationally amongst conservationists for its biologically rich dense virgin rainforests. It is also characterized by a range of biotopes, from lowland and mountain forests, to mangroves and savanna area. The park includes virgin Atlantic high altitude rainforest and secondary rainforest which contains abandoned plantations. The WWF has listed the forests of the park as among the Global 200, the 200 most important biological areas on the planet. The average annual rainfall is 2,493 millimetres, the parks altitude ranges between 0–1,973 metres. Flora includes the evergreen coniferous Afrocarpus mannii, orchards, ferns and mosses are common in the area. Several mangrove plants includes Avicennia germinans, Green mangrove and the Golden leather fern The rainforests contain 100 unique orchids, and over 700 species of flora. The parks fauna includes the African manatee, as well as Newtons grassland frog, Sao Tomé giant treefrog, São Tomé Caecilian, Mollers gulf frog, and Peters river frog. Birds include the São Toméan grosbeak, São Toméan ibis, São Toméan shorttail, on Príncipe island, they include a frog known as Phrynobatrachus dispar and a birds such as Dohrns thrush-babbler and the Príncipe thrush, and the African grey parrot. Official site Video walking through the virgin rainforest Video of the secondary forest
Obo National Park
–
Pico Cão Grande
Obo National Park
–
Location on
Sao Tomé
6.
Afonso, Prince of Portugal
–
Afonso, Prince of Portugal - was the heir apparent to the throne of Portugal. He was born in Lisbon, Portugal, and died in an accident on the banks of the river Tagus. Afonso, named after his grandfather, King Afonso V, was the only son King John II, the king was very fond of him and named the smaller island of São Tomé and Príncipe after him. Afonsos grandfather Afonso V of Portugal had sided with Joanna la Beltraneja who was a rival for the throne of Castile against her half-aunt and she was never considered legitimate and, when the king was dying, no one took her as a serious contender for the crown. Isabella was due to inherit the crown, but Afonso V was keen to interfere with the succession in Castile, in 1475 he married his niece Joanna, whom he considered the legitimate heir to the crown. Since her adulteress mother was his own sister, Afonso V had not only ambition and he proclaimed himself King of Castile and León and prepared to defend his wifes rights. King Ferdinand and Isabella, however, won the war of succession and, as part of the Treaty of Alcáçovas, signed in 1479, Isabella was also to come with a very large dowry that in practice represented the war compensation obtained by Portugal. In 1480, Prince Afonso, who at time was five years old, went to live in the town of Moura with his maternal grandmother. In the early months of the year, his future wife. The wedding, by proxy, took ten years later in the spring of 1490 in Seville. This wedding had the blessings of both Kingdoms, in July 1491, the royal family was spending the summer in the Santarém District near the banks of the River Tagus. King John invited his son to swim with him, the young prince refused the invitation at first, but seeing that his father wanted him to keep him company, decided to join him. According to the chronicle of Rui de Pina. na força do correr, o cavalo do príncipe caiu, e o levou debaixo de si, onde logo de improviso ficou como morto, as a sign of mourning, his parents decided to dress in black. The funeral rites were held at Batalha Monastery and Prince Afonso was buried there and his widow, Infanta Isabella, returned to Castile and even before the siege of Granada was lifted, she joined her parents in Íllora. The Catholic Monarchs abandoned the camp temporarily to be with their daughter, John tried without success until the end of his life to legitimise the ten-year-old Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, his illegitimate son. In 1494, King John, whose health had worsened, executed his last will in which named his cousin and brother-in-law, the Duke of Beja, his successor. King John died in October 1495 and, in 1497, his successor, the Duke of Beja, now King Manuel I of Portugal, married Isabella, Prince Afonsos widow
Afonso, Prince of Portugal
–
The Death of Prince Afonso
Afonso, Prince of Portugal
–
Cloister of Batalha Monastery
7.
Plantation
–
A plantation is an area of land or water where one crop is specifically planted for widespread commercial sale. The crops grown include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane, sisal, oil seeds, oil palms, rubber trees, protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have sometimes contributed to determining where plantations were located. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time, Industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Plantations are grown by state forestry authorities and/or the paper and wood industries, christmas trees are often grown on plantations as well. In southern and southeastern Asia, teak plantations have replaced the natural forest. Industrial plantations are managed for the commercial production of forest products. Individual blocks are usually even-aged and often consist of just one or two species and these species can be exotic or indigenous. Forest genetic resources are the basis for genetic alteration, selected individuals grown in seed orchards are a good source for seeds to develop adequate planting material. Wood production on a plantation is generally higher than that of natural forests. In 2000, while plantations accounted for 5% of global forest, in the first year, the ground is prepared usually by the combination of burning, herbicide spraying, and/or cultivation and then saplings are planted by human crew or by machine. The saplings are usually obtained in bulk from industrial nurseries, which may specialize in breeding in order to produce fast growing disease-. In the first few years until the canopy closes, the saplings are looked after, after the canopy closes, with the tree crowns touching each other, the plantation is becoming dense and crowded, and tree growth is slowing due to competition. This stage is termed pole stage, when competition becomes too intense, it is time to thin out the section. There are several methods for thinning, but where topography permits, the most popular is row-thinning, many trees are removed, leaving regular clear lanes through the section so that the remaining trees have room to expand again. The removed trees are delimbed, forwarded to the forest road, loaded onto trucks, a typical pole stage plantation tree is 7–30 cm in diameter at breast height. Such trees are not suitable for timber, but are used as pulp for paper and particleboard. As the trees grow and become dense and crowded again, the process is repeated
Plantation
–
A
pine plantation in the United States. Tree plantations are usually easily distinguished from natural forests by the trees being planted in straight lines.
Plantation
–
One operator planting a poplar cuttings with a Rotor machine for planting new nursery.
Plantation
–
A plantation of
Douglas-fir in
Washington,
U.S.
Plantation
–
Machine for industrial plantations
8.
Portuguese colonies
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The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas, was one of the largest and longest-lived empires in world history and the first colonial empire. It existed for almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002, the first era of the Portuguese empire originated at the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Initiated by the Kingdom of Portugal, it would eventually expand across the globe, in 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India. In 1500, either by an accidental landfall or by the secret design. Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishing forts, by 1571, a string of naval outposts connected Lisbon to Nagasaki along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, India and South Asia. This commercial network and the trade had a substantial positive impact on Portuguese economic growth. Though the realms continued to be administered separately, the Council of Portugal ruled the country and its empire from Madrid. As the King of Spain was also King of Portugal, Portuguese colonies became the subject of attacks by three rival European powers hostile to Spain, the Dutch Republic, England, and France. With its smaller population, Portugal was unable to defend its overstretched network of trading posts. Eventually, Brazil became the most valuable colony of the era until, as part of the wave of independence movements that swept the Americas during the early 19th century. The third era represents the stage of Portuguese colonialism after the decolonization of the Americas of the 1820s. The colonial possessions had been reduced to the African coastline, Portuguese Timor, the disastrous 1890 British Ultimatum led to the contraction of Portuguese ambitions in Africa. Macau was returned to China in 1999, the origin of the Kingdom of Portugal lay in the reconquista, the gradual reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. There were several motives for their first attack, on the Marinid Sultanate. In 1415 an attack was made on Ceuta, a strategically located North African Muslim enclave along the Mediterranean Sea, although Ceuta proved to be a disappointment for the Portuguese, the decision was taken to hold it while exploring along the Atlantic African coast. At the time, Europeans did not know what lay beyond Cape Bojador on the African coast, under his sponsorship, soon the Atlantic islands of Madeira and Azores were reached and started to be settled producing wheat to export to Portugal. Fears of what lay beyond Cape Bojador, and whether it was possible to return once it was passed, were assuaged in 1434 when it was rounded by one of Infante Henrys captains, Gil Eanes. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to further along the coast
Portuguese colonies
–
The
Conquest of Ceuta, in 1415, was led by
Henry the Navigator, and initiated the Portuguese Empire.
Portuguese colonies
–
Coat of arms
Portuguese colonies
–
Map of Western Africa by Lázaro Luis (1563). The large castle in West Africa represents the
São Jorge da Mina (Elmina castle).
9.
Slavery in Africa
–
This article discusses systems, history, and effects of slavery within Africa. See Arab slave trade, Atlantic slave trade, Maafa, Slavery in Africa has existed throughout the continent for many centuries, and still continues in the current day in some countries. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of the continent, when the Arab slave trade and Atlantic slave trade began, many of the local slave systems changed and began supplying captives for slave markets outside of Africa. Slavery in historical Africa was practiced in different forms, Debt slavery, enslavement of war captives, military slavery. Slavery existed in parts of Africa and was a part of the structure of some societies for many centuries. In sub-Saharan Africa, the relationships were often complex, with rights and freedoms given to individuals held in slavery and restrictions on sale. Many communities had hierarchies between different types of slaves, for example, differentiating between those who had been born into slavery and those who had been captured through war, the forms of slavery in Africa were closely related to kinship structures. In many African communities, where land could not be owned, enslavement of individuals was used as a means to increase the influence a person had and expand connections. This made slaves a permanent part of a lineage and the children of slaves could become closely connected with the larger family ties. Children of slaves born into families could be integrated into the kinship group and rise to prominent positions within society. However, stigma often remained attached and there could be strict separations between slave members of a group and those related to the master. Chattel slavery is a specific servitude relationship where the slave is treated as the property of the owner. As such, the owner is free to sell, trade, or treat the slave as he would other pieces of property, many slave relationships in Africa revolved around domestic slavery, where slaves would work primarily in the house of the master but retain some freedoms. Domestic slaves could be considered part of the household and would not be sold to others without extreme cause. The slaves could own the profits from their labor, and could marry, pawnship, or debt bondage slavery, involves the use of people as collateral to secure the repayment of debt. Slave labor is performed by the debtor, or a relative of the debtor, pawnship was a common form of collateral in West Africa. It involved the pledge of a person, or a member of that persons family, pawnship was a common practice throughout West Africa prior to European contact, including amongst the Akan people, the Ewe people, the Ga people, the Yoruba people, and the Edo people. Military slavery involved the acquisition and training of conscripted military units which would retain the identity of military slaves even after their service
Slavery in Africa
–
A
Zanj slave gang in
Zanzibar (1889).
Slavery in Africa
–
The main slave routes in medieval Africa.
Slavery in Africa
–
Slaves for sacrifice at the
Annual Customs of Dahomey - from
The history of Dahomy, an inland Kingdom of Africa, 1793.
Slavery in Africa
–
A slave market in
Cairo, c. 1848
10.
Cane sugar
–
Sucrose is a common saccharide found in many plants and plant parts. Saccharose is a term for sugars in general, especially sucrose. The molecule is a combination of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose with the formula C12H22O11. Sucrose is often extracted and refined from either sugarcane or beet sugar for human consumption, modern industrial sugar refinement processes often involve bleaching and crystallization, producing a white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste of pure sucrose. This refined form of sucrose is commonly referred to as sugar or just sugar. It plays a role as an additive in food production all over the world. About 175 million metric tons of sucrose were produced worldwide in 2013, the term sucrose was first used in 1857 by English chemist William Miller from the French sucre and the generic chemical suffix for sugars -ose. The abbreviated term Suc is often used for sucrose in scientific literature, in sucrose, the components glucose and fructose are linked via an acetal bond between C1 on the glucosyl subunit and C2 on the fructosyl unit. The bond is called a glycosidic linkage, glucose exists predominantly as two isomeric pyranoses, but only one of these forms links to the fructose. Fructose itself exists as a mixture of furanoses, each of which having α and β isomers and this linkage inhibits further bonding to other saccharide units. Since it contains no anomeric hydroxyl groups, it is classified as a non-reducing sugar. Sucrose crystallizes in the space group P21 with room-temperature lattice parameters a =1.08631 nm, b =0.87044 nm, c =0.77624 nm. The purity of sucrose is measured by polarimetry, through the rotation of plane-polarized light by a solution of sugar, the specific rotation at 20 °C using yellow sodium-D light is +66. 47°. Commercial samples of sugar are assayed using this parameter, Sucrose does not deteriorate at ambient conditions. The formula for sucrose decomposition can be represented as a 2 step reaction, C12H22O11 + heat → 12C + 11H2O 12C + 12O2 → 12CO2 Sucrose does not melt at high temperatures. Instead, it decomposes—at 186 °C —to form caramel, like other carbohydrates, it combusts to carbon dioxide and water. Mixing sucrose with the potassium nitrate produces the fuel known as rocket candy that is used to propel amateur rocket motors. C12H22O11 +6 KNO3 →9 CO +3 N2 +11 H2O +3 K2CO3 This reaction is somewhat simplified though, some of the carbon does get fully oxidized to carbon dioxide, and other reactions, such as the water-gas shift reaction also take place
Cane sugar
–
Table sugar production in the 19th century.
Sugar cane plantations (upper image) employed slave or indentured laborers. The picture shows workers harvesting cane, loading it on a boat for transport to the plant, while a European overseer watches in the lower right. The lower image shows a sugar plant with two furnace chimneys. Sugar plants and plantations were harsh, inhumane work.
Cane sugar
–
Sucrose
Cane sugar
Cane sugar
–
A
sugarloaf was a traditional form for sugar from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Sugar nips were required to break off pieces.
11.
Theobroma cacao
–
Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make cocoa mass, cocoa powder, confectionery, ganache and chocolate. Leaves are alternate, entire, unlobed, 10–40 cm long, the flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches, this is known as cauliflory. The flowers are small, 1–2 cm diameter, with pink calyx, the floral formula is ✶ K5 C5 A G. While many of the flowers are pollinated by bees or butterflies/moths, cacao flowers are pollinated by tiny flies. Having the natural pollinator Forcipomyia midges for Theobroma cacao was shown to have more fruit production than using artificial pollinators. The fruit, called a pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm long and 8–10 cm wide, ripening yellow to orange. The pod contains 20 to 60 seeds, usually called beans, the seeds are the main ingredient of chocolate, while the pulp is used in some countries to prepare refreshing juice, smoothies, jelly, and nata. The fermented pulp, until recently discarded in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, each seed contains a significant amount of fat as cocoa butter. Their most noted active constituent is theobromine, a similar to caffeine. Small amounts of cocoa flavanol, a natural nutrient found in cocoa, has found to increase oxygen flow to the cerebral. Compounds found in Theobroma cacao have also found to have other substances that are beneficial for health such as proanthocyanidins. Proanthocyanidin is a compound made by the plant that is not needed directly for growth, but it has been found to promote antiviral, antibacterial. Pectin is a field of study that many land plants grow including Theobroma cacao. Pectin from Theobroma cacao has antimicrobial effects and has the potential to be used in the pharmaceutical, nutritional, pectin can be extracted from Theobroma cacao with a variety ways but two ways involve using aqueous nitric acid or boiling water. Cacao belongs to the genus Theobroma classified under the subfamily Sterculioidea of the mallow family Malvaceae, Cacao is one of 22 species of Theobroma. The generic name is derived from the Greek for food of the gods, from θεός, meaning god, the specific name cacao is derived from the native name of the plant in indigenous Mesoamerican languages. The cacao was known as kakaw in Tzeltal, K’iche’ and Classic Maya, kagaw in Sayula Popoluca, cupuaçu, Theobroma grandiflorum, is a closely related species found in Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Like cacao, it is also the source for a kind of known as cupulate or cupuaçu chocolate
Theobroma cacao
–
Theobroma cacao
Theobroma cacao
–
Cacao flowers.
Theobroma cacao
–
Toasted cacao beans grown at the
La Chonita Hacienda in
Tabasco,
Mexico
Theobroma cacao
–
Immigrant workers from India relaxing on a cacao estate in
Trinidad, 1903.
12.
Fernando de Noronha
–
Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 21 islands and islets in the Atlantic Ocean,354 km offshore from the Brazilian coast. The archipelago got its name from the Portuguese merchant Fernão de Noronha, the main island has an area of 18.4 km2 and had a population estimated at 2,718 in 2012. The area is a municipality of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. In 2001 UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site because of the importance of its environment and its timezone is UTC-02,00 all year round. The local population and travellers can get to Noronha by plane from São Paulo, an environmental preservation daily fee is charged from tourists upon arrival by Pernambuco State administration, while another fee is paid once to have access to the National Park attractions. The islands of this archipelago are the parts of a range of submerged mountains. It consists of 21 islands, islets and rocks of volcanic origin, the main island has an area of 18 km2, being 10 km long and 3.5 km wide at its maximum. The base of this volcanic formation is 756 metres below the surface. The volcanic rocks are of variable though mainly silica-undersaturated character with basanite, nephelinite and phonolite among the types found. The central upland of the island is called the Quixaba. The islands have two endemic birds — the Noronha elaenia and the Noronha vireo, both are present on the main island, Noronha vireo is also present on Ilha Rata. In addition there is an endemic subspecie of eared dove Zenaida auriculata noronha, subfossil remains of an extinct endemic rail have also been found. The archipelago is also an important site for breeding seabirds, an endemic sigmodontine rodent, Noronhomys vespuccii, mentioned by Amerigo Vespucci, is now extinct. The islands have two endemic reptiles, the Noronha wormlizard Amphisbaena ridleyi and the Noronha skink Trachylepis atlantica, the life above and below sea is the main attraction of the island. Sea turtles, cetaceans, albatrosses and many species are frequently observed. The climate is tropical, with two well-defined seasons for rainfall, if not temperature, the rainy season lasts from February to July, the rest of the year sees little rain. The temperature ranges, both diurnal and monthly, are unusually slight, many controversies mark the discovery of the archipelago by Europeans. At least three names – São Lourenço, São João, and Quaresma – have been associated with the island around the time of its discovery
Fernando de Noronha
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Do Meio and Conceição beaches
Fernando de Noronha
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The main island.
Fernando de Noronha
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Detail from the 1502 Cantino planisphere, showing the island of "Quaresma" (Fernando de Noronha?) off the Brazilian coast.
Fernando de Noronha
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Ruins of Fort Santana
13.
Elmina Castle
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Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina Castle, also known simply as Mina or Feitoria da Mina) in present-day Elmina, Ghana. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, first established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, the slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1814, in 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a possession of the British Empire. Britain granted the Gold Coast its independence in 1957, and control of the castle was transferred to the nation formed out of the colony, Today Elmina Castle is a popular historical site, and was a major filming location for Werner Herzogs 1987 drama film Cobra Verde. The castle is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the people living along the West African coast at Elmina around the fifteenth century were presumably Fante. The Fante ethnicity bears a relationship to Akan, itself a word connoting originality from the root word, kan. Among their ancestors were merchants and miners trading gold into the Mediterranean, the ancestors of the Akan-speakers of the forests however undoubtedly came from north of the forest. The people on the West African coast were organized into numerous populations that were drawn according to kinship lines, family was extremely important in society, and family heads were united in communities under a recognized local authority. Along the Gold Coast alone, more than twenty independent kingdom-states existed, Elmina lay between two different Fante kingdoms, Fetu and Eguafo. West Africans nurtured ancient connections to parts of the world. Common metals trade, iconic artistic forms, and agricultural borrowing show that trans-Saharan, the Portuguese in 1471 were the first Europeans to visit the Gold Coast as such, but not necessarily the first sailors to reach the port. The Portuguese first reached what became known as the Gold Coast in 1471, prince Henry the Navigator first sent ships to explore the African coast in 1418. The Portuguese had several motives for voyaging south and they were attracted by rumors of fertile African lands that were rich in gold and ivory. They also sought a route to India so as to circumvent Arab traders. In line with the religious sentiments of the time, another focus of the Portuguese was Christian proselitism. They also sought to form an alliance with the legendary Prester John and these motives prompted the Portuguese to develop the Guinea trade. They made gradual progress down the African coast, each reaching a point further along than the last. Upon reaching present day Elmina, Gomes discovered a thriving gold trade already established among the natives and visiting Arab and he established his own trading post, and it became known to the Portuguese as “A Mina” because of the gold that could be found there
Elmina Castle
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St. George Castle
Elmina Castle
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Elmina Castle in the
Blaeu -Van der Hem Atlas.
Elmina Castle
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St. Georges Castle Elmina Cape Coast
Elmina Castle
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Two 16th century maps of African coast, showing A mina (the mine)
14.
Bartholomew Roberts
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Bartholomew Roberts, born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate who raided ships off the Americas and West Africa between 1719 and 1722. He was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy as measured by vessels captured and he is also known as Black Bart, but this name was never used in his lifetime. He is sometimes confused with Charles Bolles, called the Black Bart of the American West and he was born John Roberts in 1682 in Casnewydd-Bach, between Fishguard and Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. His father was most likely George Roberts and its not clear why Roberts changed his name from John to Bartholomew, but pirates often adopted aliases. He may have chosen his first name after the well-known buccaneer Bartholomew Sharp and he is thought to have gone to sea when he was 13 in 1695, but there is no further record of him until 1718, when he was mate of a Barbados sloop. In 1719, Roberts was third mate on the slave ship Princess under Captain Abraham Plumb, in early June that year, the Princess was anchored at Anomabu when she was captured by pirates. The pirates were in two vessels, the Royal Rover and the Royal James, and were led by captain Howell Davis, Davis, like Roberts, was a Welshman, originally from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire. Roberts and several other of the crew of the Princess were forced to join the pirates, Davis quickly discovered Roberts abilities as a navigator and took to consulting him. He was also able to confide information to Roberts in Welsh, Roberts is said to have been reluctant to become a pirate at first, but soon came to see the advantages of this new lifestyle. Captain Charles Johnson reports him as saying, In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, no, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto. In the merchant navy, Roberts wage was less than £4 per month, a few weeks after Roberts capture, the Royal James had to be abandoned because of worm damage. The Royal Rover headed for the island of Príncipe, Davis hoisted the flags of a British man-of-war and was allowed to enter the harbour. After a few days, Davis invited the governor to lunch on board his ship, Davis had to send boats to collect the governor, and he was invited to call at the fort for a glass of wine first. The Portuguese had discovered that their visitors were pirates and they ambushed Davis party on its way to the fort, shooting Davis dead. A new captain had to be elected, Davis crew was divided into Lords and Commons, and it was the Lords who had the right to propose a name to the remainder of the crew. Within six weeks of his capture, Roberts was elected captain and this was unusual, especially as he had objected to serving on the vessel. Historians believe he was elected for his abilities and his personality. He accepted of the Honour, saying, that since he had dippd his Hands in Muddy Water, Roberts first act as captain was to lead the crew back to Príncipe to avenge the death of Captain Davis
Bartholomew Roberts
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Bartholomew Roberts at
Ouidah with his ship and captured merchantmen in the background.
Bartholomew Roberts
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Bart Roberts' memorial stone in Casnewydd Bach
Bartholomew Roberts
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The death of Captain Howell Davis in an ambush on Príncipe
Bartholomew Roberts
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Bartholomew Roberts' crew carousing at the
Calabar River. Most of the crew were drunk when the Swallow appeared.
15.
Howell Davis
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Captain Howell Davis was a Welsh pirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719 and his ships were the Cadogan, Buck, Saint James, and Rover. Davis captured 15 known English and French ships, born in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Davis started out in piracy on 11 July 1718 when the slave ship Cadogan, on which he was serving as a mate, was captured by the pirate Edward England. Deciding to join the pirates, Davis was given command of the Cadogan, however, his crew mutinied and sailed to Barbados instead. Here Davis was imprisoned on the charge of piracy, but was eventually released, Davis was elected captain and conducted raids from his base at Coxons Hole. Subsequently, he crossed the Atlantic to terrorize shipping in the Cape Verde Islands, one of the prizes he took there became the new flagship of Davis pirate fleet, the 26-gun Saint James. He then formed a partnership with a French pirate Olivier Levasseur, known as La Buse, and another captain, Thomas Cocklyn. Transferring to the 32-gun Rover, Davis sailed south and captured more rich prizes off the Gold Coast, one of his prisoners was fellow Welshman Bartholomew Roberts, who was destined to become even more famous as a pirate. A clever and charming man as he was, Davis pretended to be a legitimate privateer to deceive the commander of a Royal African Company slaving fort in Gambia. After capturing the commander at a dinner, Davis held him for ransom. He once seized a more powerful French vessel by flying a black flag from another large. The French ship quickly surrendered, thinking she was outgunned, however, when he tried his pretence of being a Royal Navy pirate hunter in order to kidnap the governor of the Portuguese island of Príncipe, the governor saw through it. Davis was invited to call at the fort for a glass of wine, on the way there, the pirates were ambushed and Davis shot dead on 19 June 1719. Bartholomew Roberts was elected to succeed him and raided the island in later that night. Captain William Snelgrave, the master of the Bird, a vessel captured by the pirates in 1719 and his ship was taken by Thomas Cocklyns men, who abused him. However, when informed of this, Davis protected Snelgrave and obviously made an impression on him. Snelgrave concluded that Davis was a man who was a most generous humane Person, the legend of Howell Davis has inspired recent works of fiction such as The Noble Pirates by R. L. Jean. Pirate Encyclopedia, Howell Davis Pirates, Life at sea, Maritime, sea & ships, Fact files
Howell Davis
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Captain Davis
Howell Davis
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The death of Captain Davis in an ambush on Principe
16.
John Gerrard Keulemans
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Johannes Gerardus Keulemans was a Dutch bird illustrator. For most of his life he lived and worked in England, in 1869, he was persuaded by Richard Bowdler Sharpe to illustrate his Monograph of the Alcedinidae, or Family of Kingfishers and to move to England, where he lived for the rest of his life. He was married twice, and had eight children by his first wife, only nine of his children reached adulthood. He also wrote topics on spirituality, and claimed he had a premonition at the moment of death of one of his sons and he died in Ilford, Essex and is buried in Buckingham Road cemetery, Ilford, in an unmarked grave. Keulemans regularly provided illustrations for The Ibis and The Proceedings of the Zoological Society, one of his last great achievements was his contribution of over one hundred plates for Frederick Du Cane Godmans Monograph of the Petrels. He also spent some time collecting birds in Cape Verde and West Africa, Keulemans is credited with describing the Cape Verde swamp-warbler, Calamodyta brevipennis. This is a bird about 14–16 cm. light brown above and on its flanks. He did not publish an illustration of it, but his plate for Acrocephalus brunnescens in George Hendersons Lahore to Yarkand is similar, also of note is a contemporary obituary of Keulemans in the journal British Birds. Tony Keulemans later wrote Beyond the grave, which tells the story of a discovery of a painting John Gerrard had made of his own grave stone. And finally Tony Keulemans wrote an errata list to Feathers to Brush, keulemanss work is characterised by its consistency, showing little change over the course of his career, and focused to an extraordinary degree on the rendering of fine detail. These generalisations have also proven to be the basis for unjustified criticism of his work, aside from this, a number of critics have rightly placed Keulemans above his contemporaries, his ability to create accurate and vivid representations of birds gave him prominence in his field. Keulemans was prodigious in his output - he was commissioned to paint pictures of birds throughout his career. Keulemans first prints appeared in two books by Francois Pollen, Contributions a lhistoire naturelle des Lemuriens and Een blik in Madagascar, some appeared after his death until 1915, he had rendered the images on stone well before publication of these works. A calculation of his output gives about 4, 000-5,000 published illustrations. The vast majority of these were published within octavo-size books and publications. While the subject of his illustrations was almost entirely avian, he was commissioned to create portraits of mammals, insects. Most of the illustrations by Keulemans were produced through traditional lithography, allowing for a product that depicts a vivid, lifelike figure through depth. Printing was carried out by the two firms of Mintern and Hanhart, and early in his career, some were printed by P. M. W. Trap, often, the published lithographs were not coloured, and perhaps some were not intended to be coloured
John Gerrard Keulemans
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J. G. Keulemans
John Gerrard Keulemans
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An illustration of the extinct
great auk by Keulemans
John Gerrard Keulemans
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Red-banded fruiteater (Pipreola whitelyi), 1886
John Gerrard Keulemans
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An older Keulemans
17.
Gray parrot
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The African grey parrot is an Old World parrot in the family Psittacidae. This article describes the Congo African grey parrot, the Timneh parrot has been split into a distinct species. The African grey parrot is a medium-sized, predominantly grey, black-billed parrot and their average weight is 400 grams, with an average length of 33 centimetres and an average wingspan of 46–52 cm. The Congo subspecies is a grey, with darker grey over the head. The Timneh subspecies is a gray and has a dark maroon colored tail as well as having a portion of their beak being light pink in color. Due to artificial selection by parrot breeders, some Congo African grey parrots are partially or completely red. The coloration of juveniles is similar to that of adults, but the eye is dark grey to black. The undertail coverts are also tinged with grey, the adults weigh between 418 and 526 grams. African grey parrots may live for 40–60 years in captivity, although their mean lifespan in the wild appears to be shorter at about 23 years. The African grey parrot is native to equatorial Africa, including Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Côte dIvoire, Ghana, Kenya, the species is found inside a range from Kenya to the eastern part of the Ivory Coast. Between 120,100 and 259,000 Timneh African gray parrots remain worldwide, current estimates for the global population of Congo African grey parrots are uncertain and range from 0.63 to 13 million birds. The species seems to favor dense forests, but can also be found at forest edges, a population study published in 2015 found that the species had been ″virtually eliminated″ from Ghana with numbers declining 90 to 99% since 1992. They were found in only 10 of 42 forested areas, local people mainly blamed the pet trade, and the felling of timber for the decline. Populations are thought to be stable in Cameroon, and in the Congo an estimated 15,000 are taken every year for the pet trade, African grey parrots are monogamous breeders which nest in tree cavities. Each couple of parrots needs its own tree to nest, the hen lays three to five eggs, which she incubates for 30 days while being fed by her mate. The adults defend their nesting sites, both parents help take care of the chicks until they can go off on their own. African grey parrot chicks require feeding and care from their parents in the nest, the parents take care of them until four or five weeks after they are fledged. Young leave the nest at the age of 12 weeks, little is known about the courtship behavior of this species in the wild
Gray parrot
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African grey parrot
Gray parrot
18.
Albert Einstein
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Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, Einsteins work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led him to develop his theory of relativity during his time at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Briefly before, he aquired the Swiss citizenship in 1901, which he kept for his whole life and he continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe. He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany and he settled in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1940. This eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project, Einstein supported defending the Allied forces, but generally denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955. Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works, on 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einsteins papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents. Einsteins intellectual achievements and originality have made the word Einstein synonymous with genius, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March 1879. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, the Einsteins were non-observant Ashkenazi Jews, and Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in Munich from the age of 5 for three years. At the age of 8, he was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium, the loss forced the sale of the Munich factory. In search of business, the Einstein family moved to Italy, first to Milan, when the family moved to Pavia, Einstein stayed in Munich to finish his studies at the Luitpold Gymnasium. His father intended for him to electrical engineering, but Einstein clashed with authorities and resented the schools regimen. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning, at the end of December 1894, he travelled to Italy to join his family in Pavia, convincing the school to let him go by using a doctors note. During his time in Italy he wrote an essay with the title On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field
Albert Einstein
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Albert Einstein in 1921
Albert Einstein
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Einstein at the age of 3 in 1882
Albert Einstein
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Albert Einstein in 1893 (age 14)
Albert Einstein
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Einstein's matriculation certificate at the age of 17, showing his final grades from the Argovian cantonal school (Aargauische Kantonsschule, on a scale of 1–6, with 6 being the highest possible mark)
19.
Theory of Relativity
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The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein, special relativity and general relativity. Special relativity applies to particles and their interactions, describing all their physical phenomena except gravity. General relativity explains the law of gravitation and its relation to other forces of nature and it applies to the cosmological and astrophysical realm, including astronomy. The theory transformed theoretical physics and astronomy during the 20th century and it introduced concepts including spacetime as a unified entity of space and time, relativity of simultaneity, kinematic and gravitational time dilation, and length contraction. In the field of physics, relativity improved the science of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, with relativity, cosmology and astrophysics predicted extraordinary astronomical phenomena such as neutron stars, black holes, and gravitational waves. Max Planck, Hermann Minkowski and others did subsequent work, Einstein developed general relativity between 1907 and 1915, with contributions by many others after 1915. The final form of general relativity was published in 1916, the term theory of relativity was based on the expression relative theory used in 1906 by Planck, who emphasized how the theory uses the principle of relativity. In the discussion section of the paper, Alfred Bucherer used for the first time the expression theory of relativity. By the 1920s, the community understood and accepted special relativity. It rapidly became a significant and necessary tool for theorists and experimentalists in the new fields of physics, nuclear physics. By comparison, general relativity did not appear to be as useful and it seemed to offer little potential for experimental test, as most of its assertions were on an astronomical scale. Its mathematics of general relativity seemed difficult and fully understandable only by a number of people. Around 1960, general relativity became central to physics and astronomy, new mathematical techniques to apply to general relativity streamlined calculations and made its concepts more easily visualized. Special relativity is a theory of the structure of spacetime and it was introduced in Einsteins 1905 paper On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Special relativity is based on two postulates which are contradictory in classical mechanics, The laws of physics are the same for all observers in motion relative to one another. The speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers, the resultant theory copes with experiment better than classical mechanics. For instance, postulate 2 explains the results of the Michelson–Morley experiment, moreover, the theory has many surprising and counterintuitive consequences. Some of these are, Relativity of simultaneity, Two events, simultaneous for one observer, time dilation, Moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than an observers stationary clock
Theory of Relativity
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USSR stamp dedicated to Albert Einstein
Theory of Relativity
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Key concepts
20.
Arthur Stanley Eddington
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Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington OM FRS was an English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician of the early 20th century who did his greatest work in astrophysics. He was also a philosopher of science and a populariser of science, the Eddington limit, the natural limit to the luminosity of stars, or the radiation generated by accretion onto a compact object, is named in his honour. He is famous for his work concerning the theory of relativity, Eddington wrote a number of articles that announced and explained Einsteins theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world. World War I severed many lines of communication and new developments in German science were not well known in England. Eddington was born 28 December 1882 in Kendal, Westmorland, England, the son of Quaker parents, Arthur Henry Eddington, headmaster of the Quaker School and his father taught at a Quaker training college in Lancashire before moving to Kendal to become headmaster of Stramongate School. He died in the epidemic which swept England in 1884. His mother was left to bring up her two children with little income. The family moved to Weston-super-Mare where at first Stanley was educated at home before spending three years at a preparatory school, the family lived at a house called Varzin,42 Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare. There is a plaque on the building explaining Sir Arthurs contribution to science. In 1893 Eddington entered Brynmelyn School and he proved to be a most capable scholar, particularly in mathematics and English literature. His performance earned him a scholarship to Owens College, Manchester in 1898 and he spent the first year in a general course, but turned to physics for the next three years. Eddington was greatly influenced by his physics and mathematics teachers, Arthur Schuster, at Manchester, Eddington lived at Dalton Hall, where he came under the lasting influence of the Quaker mathematician J. W. Graham. His progress was rapid, winning him several scholarships and he graduated with a B. Sc. in physics with First Class Honours in 1902, based on his performance at Owens College, he was awarded a scholarship to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1902. His tutor at Cambridge was Robert Alfred Herman and in 1904 Eddington became the first ever student to be placed as Senior Wrangler. After receiving his M. A. in 1905, he began research on thermionic emission in the Cavendish Laboratory and this did not go well, and meanwhile he spent time teaching mathematics to first year engineering students. Through a recommendation by E. T, in January 1906, Eddington was nominated to the post of chief assistant to the Astronomer Royal at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. He left Cambridge for Greenwich the following month and he was put to work on a detailed analysis of the parallax of 433 Eros on photographic plates that had started in 1900. He developed a new statistical method based on the apparent drift of two stars, winning him the Smiths Prize in 1907
Arthur Stanley Eddington
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Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944)
Arthur Stanley Eddington
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One of Eddington's photographs of the total
solar eclipse of 29 May 1919, presented in his 1920 paper announcing its success, confirming
Einstein 's theory that light "bends"
21.
Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
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A total solar eclipse occurred on May 29,1919. With a maximum duration of totality of 6 minutes 51 seconds and it was visible throughout most of South America and Africa as a partial eclipse. Totality occurred through a path across central Brazil after sunrise, across the Atlantic Ocean. This eclipse was photographed from the expedition of Sir Arthur Eddington to the island of Principe, positions of star images within the field near the Sun were used to test Albert Einsteins prediction of the bending of light around the Sun from his general theory of relativity. The stars which Eddingtons expedition observed were in the constellation Taurus, each member in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours at alternating nodes of the Moons orbit. Solar Saros 136, repeating every 18 years,11 days, the series started with partial solar eclipse on Jun 14,1360, and reached a first annular eclipse on September 8,1504. It was an event from November 22,1612, through January 17,1703. The series ends at member 71 as an eclipse on July 30,2622. The longest eclipse occurred on June 20,1955, with a duration of totality at 7 minutes,8 seconds. NASA chart and statistics Fotos of Solar Corona May 29,1919 Wired. com, May 29,1919, A Major Eclipse, Relatively Speaking Famous Eclipse of 1919
Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
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From the report of
Sir Arthur Eddington on the expedition to the island of
Principe (off the west coast of Africa).
Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
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Total/hybrid eclipses → symbol denotes next total/hybrid eclipse
Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919
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Annular eclipses → symbol denotes next annular eclipse
22.
Obo Natural Park
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Obo Natural Park or Ôbo Natural Park is a natural park of São Tomé and Príncipe, covering some 235 km² of São Tomé Island in its south and 65 km² of Príncipe Island. Despite its name, it has the category of park of the IUCN. On the larger island, it covers the districts of Me-Zochi, most of Lemba, the natural park was established in 2006 and is the countrys only protected area at the national level. Now there is another protected area created in 2012 and is the Island of Príncipe Biosphere Reserve and is at the international level, several places inside the park includes Bombaim which is next to the nations tallest summit. It has the islands southernmost point along with the countrys at Ilhéu das Rolas, the park is known internationally amongst conservationists for its biologically rich dense virgin rainforests. It is also characterized by a range of biotopes, from lowland and mountain forests, to mangroves and savanna area. The park includes virgin Atlantic high altitude rainforest and secondary rainforest which contains abandoned plantations. The WWF has listed the forests of the park as among the Global 200, the 200 most important biological areas on the planet. The average annual rainfall is 2,493 millimetres, the parks altitude ranges between 0–1,973 metres. Flora includes the evergreen coniferous Afrocarpus mannii, orchards, ferns and mosses are common in the area. Several mangrove plants includes Avicennia germinans, Green mangrove and the Golden leather fern The rainforests contain 100 unique orchids, and over 700 species of flora. The parks fauna includes the African manatee, as well as Newtons grassland frog, Sao Tomé giant treefrog, São Tomé Caecilian, Mollers gulf frog, and Peters river frog. Birds include the São Toméan grosbeak, São Toméan ibis, São Toméan shorttail, on Príncipe island, they include a frog known as Phrynobatrachus dispar and a birds such as Dohrns thrush-babbler and the Príncipe thrush, and the African grey parrot. Official site Video walking through the virgin rainforest Video of the secondary forest
Obo Natural Park
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Pico Cão Grande
Obo Natural Park
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Location on
Sao Tomé
23.
ICAO airport code
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The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating aerodromes around the world. ICAO codes are used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers. Flight information regions are identified by a unique ICAO-code. Code selections in North America were based on existing radio station identifiers, for example, radio stations in Canada were already starting with C, so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers with Cxxx. The United States had many pre-existing airports with established mnemonic codes and their ICAO codes were formed simply by prepending a K to the existing codes, as half the radio station identifiers in the US began with K. Most ICAO codes outside the US and Canada have a geographical structure. Most of the rest of the world was classified in a more planned top-down manner, thus Uxxx referred to the Soviet Union with the second letter denoting the specific region within it, and so forth. Europe had too many locations for one starting letter, so it was split into Exxx for northern Europe. The second letter was more specific, EGxx was the United Kingdom, EDxx was West Germany, ETxx was East Germany, LExx was Spain, LAxx was Albania, France was designated LFxx, as the counterpart EFxx was the unambiguously northern Finland. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes, which are used for airline timetables, reservations. For example, the IATA code for Londons Heathrow Airport is LHR, in general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes have ICAO codes than IATA codes, and to add to the confusion IATA codes are assigned to railway stations. Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes generally have a structure and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent, the second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes. In either case, ICAO codes generally provide geographical context unlike IATA codes, for example, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGGP is somewhere in the UK. On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty, there are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code made for political or administrative reasons. Similarly Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe, further, in region L, all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added
ICAO airport code
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Flag of the ICAO
24.
Portuguese language
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Portuguese is a Romance language and the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, and has kept some Celtic phonology. Portuguese is also termed the language of Camões, after Luís Vaz de Camões, one of the greatest literary figures in the Portuguese language and author of the Portuguese epic poem, the museum is the first of its kind in the world. In 2015 the museum was destroyed in a fire, but there are plans to reconstruct it, when the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 216 BCE, they brought the Latin language with them, from which all Romance languages descend. Between 409 CE and 711 CE, as the Roman Empire collapsed in Western Europe, Portuguese evolved from the medieval language, known today by linguists as Galician-Portuguese, Old Portuguese or Old Galician, of the northwestern medieval Kingdom of Galicia. It is in Latin administrative documents of the 9th century that written Galician-Portuguese words and this phase is known as Proto-Portuguese, which lasted from the 9th century until the 12th-century independence of the County of Portugal from the Kingdom of León, by then reigning over Galicia. In the first part of the Galician-Portuguese period, the language was used for documents. For some time, it was the language of preference for poetry in Christian Hispania. Portugal became an independent kingdom in 1139, under King Afonso I of Portugal, in the second period of Old Portuguese, in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the Portuguese discoveries, the language was taken to many regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas. The language continued to be popular in parts of Asia until the 19th century, some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal. The end of the Old Portuguese period was marked by the publication of the Cancioneiro Geral by Garcia de Resende, Most literate Portuguese speakers were also literate in Latin, and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing—and eventually speech—in Portuguese. Portuguese is the language of the majority of people in Brazil and Portugal, perhaps 75% of the population of Angola speaks Portuguese natively, and 85% are fluent. Just over 40% of the population of Mozambique are native speakers of Portuguese, Portuguese is also spoken natively by 30% of the population in Guinea-Bissau, and a Portuguese-based creole is understood by all. No data is available for Cape Verde, but almost all the population is bilingual, there are also significant Portuguese speaking immigrant communities in many countries including Andorra, Bermuda, Canada, France, Japan, Jersey, Namibia, Paraguay, Macau, Switzerland, Venezuela. In some parts of former Portuguese India, namely Goa and Daman and Diu, in 2014, an estimated 1,500 students were learning Portuguese in Goa. Equatorial Guinea made an application for full membership to the CPLP in June 2010. In 2011, Portuguese became its official language and, in July 2014. Portuguese is a subject in The school curriculum in Uruguay
Portuguese language
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Multilingual sign in Japanese, Portuguese, and English in
Oizumi,
Japan. Return immigration of
Japanese Brazilians has led to a large Portuguese-speaking community in the town.
Portuguese language
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Percentage of worldwide Portuguese speakers per country.
Portuguese language
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Library of the
Mafra National Palace, Portugal
Portuguese language
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Baroque Library of the
Coimbra University, Portugal
25.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
UNESCO
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UNESCO offices in
Brasília
UNESCO
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UNESCO
UNESCO
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UNESCO Institute for Water Education in
Delft
UNESCO
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The Garden of Peace, UNESCO headquarters, Paris. Donated by the Government of Japan, this garden was designed by American-Japanese sculptor artist Isamu Noguchi in 1958 and installed by Japanese gardener Toemon Sano.
26.
Man and the Biosphere Programme
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As of March 2016,669 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites, have been included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems, each reserve promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. Biosphere reserves are nominated by governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Their status is internationally recognized. The buffer zone surrounds or adjoins the core areas, and is used for activities compatible with sound ecological practices that can reinforce scientific research, monitoring, training and education. The transition area is the part of the reserve where the greatest activity is allowed, fostering economic, participating countries establish MAB National Committees that ensure maximum national participation in the international programme, defining and implementing each country’s activities. MAB currently operates through 158 National Committees established among the 195 Members States, the agenda of the MAB Programme is defined by its main governing body, the International Coordinating Council. The MAB Council consists of 34 member states elected by UNESCO’s General Conference, the council elects a chair and five vice-chairpersons from each of UNESCO’s geopolitical regions, one of which functions as a rapporteur. Its staff members draw on expertise in many and varied disciplines, the programme can grant seed funding to assist countries in developing projects and/or to secure appropriate partnership contributions. The latest World Congress of Biosphere Reserves took place in Lima, Peru and this will be the 4th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves and it shall develop a new vision for the decade 2016–2025. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is supported by different regional, sub-regional or thematic networks and these are as follows, The African Biosphere Reserves Network was created in 1996 and comprises 33 African countries. The ArabMAB Network was officially launched in 1997 and represents 18 Arab countries, the East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network was launched in 1994. Today, it consists of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea, euroMAB is the network of biosphere reserves in Europe and North America. Created in 1987, it is the largest MAB Regional Network with 53 countries, the Ibero-American MAB Network was created in 1992. It comprises 22 countries from Latin American and the Caribbean, Spain, the Pacific Man and the Biosphere Network was created in 2006 and comprises the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga. The South and Central Asia MAB Network was created in 2002 and comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Southeast Asian Biosphere Reserve Network was created in 1998. Today, it comprises Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, the East Atlantic Biosphere Reserve Network was created in 1994. It comprises the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Madeira and Azores, Mauritania, Morocco, Sao Tomé and Principe, the World Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves was established in 2012 and comprises 22 countries. Agenda 21 Searchable list of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves Frequently Asked Questions on Biosphere Reserve A-Z of Areas of Biodiverity Importance, Biosphere Reserves
Man and the Biosphere Programme
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Logo of MAB
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Learning resources from Wikiversity
Wikimedia Atlas of São Tomé and Príncipe
Sao Tome and Principe travel guide from Wikivoyage
Islands of São Tomé and Príncipe
