Summary

This is not a book but a compilation of entries from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, including the title page, table of contents, and excerpts from articles on "Abandonment," "Abortion," and "Aberration." The central argument of the encyclopedia is to provide authoritative, factual summaries across diverse fields of knowledge. The passages cover legal definitions of abandonment in law, medical and anthropological descriptions of abortion practices across cultures, and the scientific concept of aberration as applied to light and motion. A reader takes away specific, detailed information on these topics as understood in the early 20th century, such as the legal nuances of abandoning an action in court, the ritual use of water and blood in cleansing ceremonies, and the mechanical principle of the parallelogram of velocities used to explain apparent motion.

Key concepts

  • Abandonment (law)The relinquishment of an interest, claim, privilege, or possession, with specific applications in legal actions and property.
  • Parallelogram of velocitiesA graphical method to represent the resultant motion of an object when two velocities act simultaneously, such as rain relative to a moving observer.
  • Aberration of lightThe apparent displacement of a star's position due to the combination of the Earth's motion and the finite speed of light, discovered by James Bradley in 1725.
  • AnthesteriaAn ancient Athenian festival where the blood of victims was poured over the unclean as a ritual cleansing.
  • InfanticideA practice cited as a simpler alternative to abortion among primitive savage races for disposing of inconvenient progeny.

From the book

For other versions of this work, see Encyclopædia Britannica . ← 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911 ) Title page → related portals : Reference Works Shortcut : EB11 or EB1911 Notes on reading the Wikisource edition . A special disclaimer for this project . Collaboration page for contributors . 12543 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Table of contents This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1931. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works . Public domain Public domain false false← Alabama 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 "Alabama" Arbitration by Montague Hughes Crackanthorpe Alabama River → See also Alabama Claims on…
He is commonly known as Rab.← Abbadie, Jakob 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 'Abbahu Abba Mari → See also Abbahu on Wikipedia ; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer . 12925 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 — 'Abbahu ​ ʼABBAHU, the name of a Palestinian ʼamora ( q.v. ) who flourished c . 279–320. ʼAbbahu encouraged the study of Greek by Jews. He was famous as a collector of traditional lore, and is very often cited in the Talmud.
He was author of Quaestiones ( Sheiltoth ), a collection of homilies (at once learned and popular) on Jewish law and ethics. This is recorded to have been the first work written by a Jewish scholar after the completion of the Talmud.← Alphabet 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 'Al-phasi, Isaac Alphege, Saint → See also Isaac Alfasi on Wikipedia ; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer . 1202415 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 1 — 'Al-phasi, Isaac ​ ’AL-PHASI, ISAAC (1013–1103), Jewish rabbi and codifier, known as Riph , was born near Fez in 1013 and died at Lucena in 1103. ’Al-Phasi means the “man of Fez” (medieval Jews were often named after their birthplaces). He was forced to leave Fez when an old man of 75, being accused on some unknown political charge. He then…

Popular questions readers ask