Education & Reference Questions & Answers

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was still incomplete when Charles Dickens suddenly died in 1870. Edwin Drood is a young man engaged to a lovely girl named Rosa Bud although little love exists between them. Rosa has attracted the attention of another young man, by name Neville Landless. Edwin and Neville quarrel violently one day and soon afterwards, Edwin and …

The Warsaw Convention, which took place in Warsaw on October 12, 1929, comprising experts in the field of aviation law from 31 nations, intended to create a legal framework that binds international aviation even today. Its regulatory issues consist of mandates covering carriers to issue passenger tickets, baggage checks for luggage, compensation amount and limitation period for claiming compensation. It …

Realpolitik refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on power and on practical and material factors and considerations, rather than ideological notions or moralistic or ethical premises. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism. The term realpolitik is sometimes used pejoratively to imply politics that are coercive, amoral, or Machiavellian. Realpolitik …

The term to play second fiddle to originated in the world of music (fiddle means violin) in the early 19th century. In orchestras, the most prominent member was the musician who played the lead violin and got the most recognition. The other musicians became known as second fiddles and the expression is now used to denote someone or something with …

The Rubicon is a shallow river, about 80 km long, in northeast Italy. The idiom ‘crossing the Rubicon’ means to pass a point of no return, and refers to Julius Caesar’s crossing of the river in 49 BC, which was considered an act of war, as the course of the river has frequently changed. It is a point beyond which …

A trip up a high mountain near the equator takes you through a series of climatic and plant zones that resemble those you would meet on an overland journey from the equator to the poles. This is because temperatures fall by about 6 C for every 1,000m (roughly 1o F for every 300ft), so that leave a hot equatorial climate …

The Hecatoncheires, or Hekatonkhires, were figures in an archaic stage of Greek mythology, three giants of incredible strength and ferocity that surpassed that of all Titans whom they helped overthrow. Their name derives from the Greek, “each of them having a hundred hands and fifty heads” (Bibliotheca). Hesiod’s Theogony (624, 639, 714, 734–35) reports that the three Hekatonkheires became the …

On exposed cliff faces, you will often see that the rocks are arranged in layers, rather like a sliced loaf placed on end. The layers, or strata, may be level, tiled or bent into rounded wrinkles, or folds. Folds are caused by sideways pressure from colliding plates in the Earth’s crust. The tremendous pressure created by sideways moving plates can …

By looking like a dead twig, the stick insect fools hungry birds and escapes being eaten. A few animals, however, make every effort to attract attention. The skunk ambles about the its black and white markings easily seen. Some caterpillars are so brightly coloured they can hardly be missed by birds. Why? The bold marking are a warning. The massage …

To William Shakespeare, the son of John Shakespeare, a dealer in wool and leather, who lived in Stratford-upon-Avon. In this town standing on the banks of the River Avon in Warwickshire, was born in April 1564, the boy who was to win immortal fame as the world’s greatest dramatist, the good friend of nobles and the wonder of his and …