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Max Weber
German sociologist, philosopher, and political economist (1864–1920)
Being
Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; German: [ˈveːbɐ] ; 21 April 1864 – 14 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sciences more generally. His ideas continue to influence social theory and research. Born in Erfurt in 1864, Weber studied law and history in Berlin, Göttingen, and Heidelberg. After earning his doctorate in law in 1889 and habilitation in 1891, he taught in Berlin, Freiburg, and Heidelberg. He married his cousin Marianne Schnitger two years later. In 1897, he had a breakdown after his father died following an argument. Weber ceased teaching and travelled until the early 1900s. He recovered and wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. During the First World War, he initially supported Germany's war effort but became critical of it and supported democratisation. He also gave the lectures "Science as a Vocation" and "Politics as a Vocation". After the war, Weber co-founded the German Democratic Party, unsuccessfully ran for office, and advised the drafting of the Weimar Constitution. Meanwhile, he resumed teaching in Vienna and Munich. He died of pneumonia in 1920 at the age of 56, possibly as a result of the post-war Spanish flu pandemic. A book, Economy and Society, was left unfinished. One of Weber's main intellectual concerns was in understanding the processes of rationalisation and disenchantment. He formulated a thesis arguing that such processes were associated with the rise of capitalism and modernity. Weber also argued that the Protestant work ethic influenced the creation of modern capitalism in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. It was followed by The Economic Ethics of the World Religions, where he examined the religions of China, India, and ancient Judaism. In terms of government, Weber argued that states were defined by their monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a given area and categorised social authority into three distinct forms: charismatic, traditional, and rational-legal. He was also a key proponent of methodological antipositivism, arguing for the study of social action through interpretive rather than purely empiricist methods. Weber made a variety of other contributions to economic sociology, political sociology, and the sociology of religion. After his death, the rise of Weberian scholarship was slowed by the Weimar Republic's political instability and the rise of Nazi Germany. In the post-war era, organised scholarship began to appear, led by Talcott Parsons. Other American and British scholars were also involved in its development. Over the course of the twentieth century, Weber's reputation grew as translations of his works became widely available and scholars increasingly engaged with his life and ideas. As a result of these works, he began to be regarded as a founding father of sociology, alongside Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim, and one of the central figures in the development of the social sciences more generally.
Area 51
Classified United States Air Force base at Groom Lake in Nye and Lincoln counties in Nevada, United States
Land
Area 51 is a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport (ICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA) or Groom Lake (after the salt flat next to its airfield). Details of its operations are not made public, but the USAF says that it is an open training range, and it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons. The USAF and U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acquired the site in 1955, primarily for flight tests of the Lockheed U-2 aircraft. All research and occurrences in Area 51 are Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). The CIA publicly acknowledged the base's existence on 25 June 2013, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in 2005; it has declassified documents detailing its history and purpose. The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component of unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore. The surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including the small town of Rachel on the so-called "Extraterrestrial Highway".
Tide
Rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth
Land
Tides are the periodic rise and fall of sea level resulting from the differential gravitational forces exerted primarily by the Moon and the Sun, combined with inertial effects associated with the Earth–Moon system’s orbital motion and the Earth's rotation. While these astronomical forcings generate the fundamental tidal potential, actual observed tides are strongly modified by terrestrial factors, including the geometry of ocean basins, continental boundaries, bathymetry, the coriolis effect, frictional dissipation within shallow seas and the tidal resonance of coastlines. Tides vary on timescales ranging from hours to years due to a number of factors, which determine the lunitidal interval. To make accurate records, tide gauges at fixed stations measure water level over time. Gauges ignore variations caused by waves with periods shorter than minutes. These data are compared to the reference (or datum) level usually called mean sea level. While tides are usually the largest source of short-term sea-level fluctuations, sea levels are also subject to change from thermal expansion, wind, and barometric pressure changes, resulting in storm surges, especially in shallow seas and near coasts. Tidal phenomena are not limited to the oceans, but can occur in other systems whenever a gravitational field that varies in time and space is present. For example, the shape of the solid part of the Earth is affected slightly by Earth tide, though this is not as easily seen as the water tidal movements.
Monocots
Clade of flowering plants
Being
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots (Lilianae sensu Chase & Reveal), are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks and under several different names. The APG IV system recognises its monophyly but does not assign it to a taxonomic rank, and instead uses the term "monocots" to refer to the group. Monocotyledons are contrasted with the dicotyledons, which have two cotyledons. Unlike the monocots however, the dicots are not monophyletic and the two cotyledons are instead the ancestral characteristic of all flowering plants. Botanists now classify dicots into the eudicots ("true dicots") and several basal lineages from which both the eudicots and monocots emerged. The monocots are extremely important economically, culturally, and ecologically, and make up a majority of plant biomass used in agriculture. Common crops such as dates, onions, garlic, rice, wheat, maize, and sugarcane are all monocots. The grasses alone cover over 40% of Earth's land area and contribute a significant portion of the human diet. Orchids, tulips, daffodils, and lilies are among the common houseplants belonging to the monocot group.
J. K. Simmons
American actor (born 1955)
Being
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. Considered among the most established and enduring character actors of his generation, he has amassed over 200 screen and stage credits since his 1986 debut. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Terence Fletcher, an abusive jazz instructor, in Damien Chazelle's Whiplash (2014), and received a second nomination for portraying William Frawley in Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos (2021). His other various accolades include a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Simmons achieved international fame with his role as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), a role he reprised in various Marvel media unrelated to the Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated titles and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. He has appeared in numerous supporting roles in films such as The Cider House Rules (1999), Thank You for Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Jennifer's Body (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015), La La Land (2016), Justice League (2017), Palm Springs (2020), and Juror No. 2 (2024). He played two different interpretations of Santa Claus in Klaus (2019) and Red One (2024). On television, he rose to prominence for playing white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz (1997–2003), the recurring role of Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order (1997–2010), Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on the TNT series The Closer (2005–2012), and Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart (2017–2019). He has also appeared in commercials for Farmers Insurance. On the Broadway stage Simmons played Captain Hook in the 1991 revival of Peter Pan and Benny Southstreet in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. As a voice actor, he has played the Yellow M&M in commercials since 1996, Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2 (2011), White Knight in Generator Rex (2010–2013), Tenzin in The Legend of Korra (2012–2014), Stanford "Ford" Pines in Gravity Falls (2015–2016), Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), Mayor Leodore Lionheart in Zootopia (2016), Martin Smarty in Kim Possible (2002–2007), Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man in Invincible (2021–present) and Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), and General Ketheric Thorm in the video game Baldur's Gate 3 (2023).
Statistics
- 108Common
- 54Uncommon
- 108Rare
- 45Epic
- 22Legendary
- 8Mythic
- 1Prism