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What is the reason for learning classic literature today? 3324 There is no simple way to explain why one should read classical literature. Indeed, the knowledge of classical literature is useful in more ways than one. Here are a couple of points worth pondering. First of all, we have to make a distinction between classical literature and the so called classics, the former pertaining to ancient Greek and Roman literature in all its forms and later literature such as, for example, 18th and 19th century world literature. Let us assume that the question concerns European heritage. So in the following, we refer with classical literature refers mainly to the great masterpieces of the Greek and Roman civilizations. However, we have to remember that both Greeks and Romans owed much to the preceding Egyptian…
What is the music therapy's effect on depression? 842 We are not experts on psychology or any of its different disciplines, but hopefully the following websites will give some idea how music is used in helping people to overcome depression. However, in short it would seem that some of the psychologists and psychiatrists are of the opinion that music can relieve stress and that it can enable people to open up to their inner conflicts and thus provide ways to solve the actual reasons behind depression. http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004517.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/26744/music_therapy_as_treatme… http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Depression/dep_sound_therapy.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122203158.htm http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/…
I would like to know how to make toothpaste. 718 Here are a couple of web sites where you can read how toothpaste is made: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/eng99/eng99398.htm http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Toothpaste.html
Is the King Arthur real or fake? 1551 King Arthur's existence is a question debated by historians. Geoffrey Monmouth's popular Historia Regum Britanniae from the 12th century is the first narrative account on Arthur's life. However, earlier mentions of him are made in some Welsh and Breton tales and poems. Good starting point for further Arthur studies are following pages http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/ and http://faculty.smu.edu/arthuriana/
The flags of Islamic nations are often decorated with the crescent moon. What is the relation between Islam and the crescent moon? 1004 Here are a couple of articles on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent http://islam.about.com/od/history/a/crescent_moon.htm
Why do zebras have stripes? 837 The stripes work as camouflage making zebras indistinguishable to other animals, and on the other hand they also actually help zebras recognize one another. See: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/question454.htm How the stripes have developed is a question of evolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
Does exist a synchronous digital reference service in Italy?? Thank you. 1655 You have sent your question to the "Ask a librarian" service in Finland. Here we cannot have the best possible expertise concerning libraries in Italy. That is why I recommend for you to redirect your request to some italian library. There seem to be several services of the kind "Chiedi alla tua biblioteca": http://www.segnaweb.it/disciplines/00-chiedi-lla-tua-biblioteca.html
I would like to know about the Lucifer Effect. 755 The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (Random House, 2007) is a book written by Philip Zimbardo. In this book he offers a psychological account of how ordinary people sometimes turn evil and commit unspeakable acts. For further details, see: http://www.lucifereffect.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Zimbardo
Why purple colour is used for psychotherapy? 709 You probably mean colour therapy, which is not a branch of classical psychotherapy. On the other hand, arts therapy is widely accepted as valid treatment among classical psychotherapists as well, but in this kind of arts therapy, separate colours hardly have special meaning or significance. In colour therapy, the colour purple can be interpreted in several ways. Have a look e.g. at the following links: http://www.holisticonline.com/Color/color_purple_scarlet.htm http://www.crystalinks.com/colors.html http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/
I'd like to know ablout the Irish great famine in the 1840s. Also, I want to know about the causes and symptoms of potato blight. 14 The great famine of Ireland took place in 1845-1849, and it is said that about a million people died of hunger during those years. In the early 1840's around a third of Irish people depended on the potato as their main source of food, and thus the destruction of the potato harvest because of potato blight in 1845 launched a catastrophe. More information about the famine: http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/famine/index.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml Potato blight is a potato disease caused by a fungus. Its origins are in America, from where it spread to Europe by a shipment of seed potatoes destined for Belgian farmers in 1845. Potato blight first affects the leaves and later the actual…
Which countries have the biggest number of Nobel Prize winners in literature fields? 572 A quick counting in Wikipedia made a result of 12 prizes for USA, 9 to France, Germany and UK, 7 for Sweden and 6 for Spain and Italy. For an more accurate information check pages of Nobelprize.org in http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/ or Wikipedia http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/
I would like to know about the origin of the English language. 931 You will find lots of good web pages about the origin of the English language simply by using the search terms "english language history" in any internet search engine. E.g. here is one thorough article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_English_language If you would like to get more personalized answers to your question, I would suggest for you to turn to some "Ask a librarian" service in any English-speaking country. We Finns might not be the best possible specialists of the English language.
I would like to know the origin of the term 'Yellow Journalism'. 1142 The term "yellow journalism" was derived from Robert Outcault's comic strip "The Yellow Kid" around 1895. The battling newspapers, Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal, were both accused of sensationalizing the news. Both also published the Yellow Kid. The term was at first "yellow kid journalism" but was then shortened as "yellow journalism". More information about the background of the term: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism
Which nation's territory Antarctica is? 970 Antarctica does not belong to any country. Several countries have made territorial claims, but they are not generally recognized. More information about Antarctica and also about the Antarctic Treaty, an international agreement regulating the use of the continent, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica.
Is Christmas really the birthday of Jesus? 1098 We can say with all probability that the 25th December is not a real birthday of Christ. This day was celebrated as a Christian feast first in the middle of the 4th century. There are many theories about the reasons of the choice of the 25th December since the Bible does not provide any clear information in this matter. (a) historical theory of religion The 25th December has some connection with feasts of other religions. The Christians borrowed a feast from some neighbouring religion or they deliberately wanted to supersede such one. In fact, the cult of Sun was in the beginning of fourth century popular in the Roman empire and it has been suggested that the 25th December was celebrated as a birthday of Sun. In any case the time round…
I'd like to know about the Irish great famine in the 1840s. Also, I want to know about the causes and symptoms of potato blight. 1467 The great famine of Ireland took place in 1845-1849, and it is said that about a million people died of hunger during those years. In the early 1840's around a third of Irish people depended on the potato as their main source of food, and thus the destruction of the potato harvest because of potato blight in 1845 launched a catastrophe. More information about the famine: http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/famine/index.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml Potato blight is a potato disease caused by a fungus. Its origins are in America, from where it spread to Europe by a shipment of seed potatoes destined for Belgian farmers in 1845. Potato blight first affects the leaves and later the actual…
I would like to know about the origin of the English language. 699 The English language originate from the dialects, now called Old English, which were brought to England beginning in the 5th century. Recommended link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language Recommended books: Crystal, Dvid: The English language. - London: Penguin, 1990. ISBN: 0-14-013532-4 English: history, diversity and change (edited by David Graddol, Dick Leith and Joan Swann). - London: Routledge, 2002. ISBN: 0-415-13118-9
Which countries have the biggest number of Nobel Prize winners in literature fields. 793 The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 105 persons between 1901-2008. The countries who have most Nobel Prize in Literature laureates are: 1. France (13) 2. United States (12) 3. United Kingdom (9) 4. Germany (8) 5. Italy (6) Sweden (6) 7. Poland (5) Spain (5) 9. Ireland (4) 10.Denmark (3) 10.Norway (3) 12.Japan (2) Greece (2) Chile (2) South Africa (2) Switzerland (2) 21 countries have one Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. More detailed information: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/lan_nob_pri_in_lit_mos_awa_cou_lau-li… http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/
What is the most widely used language in the world? 1905 Mandarin Chinese has about almost 1 billion speakers. After that Hindi, Arabic, English and Spanish. The order varies depending on how speakers are calculated.
Among all the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, how many works contain sunflower? 696 In the internet there is a complete list of all the sunflower paintings of Vincent van Gogh, see: http://www.vggallery.com/misc/sunflowers.htm It seems, that these paintings are eleven.