Jasper National Park National park, western Alberta, Can. Located on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, it was established in 1907. It occupies 4,200 sq mi (10,878 sq km), including the Athabasca River val¬ ley and the surrounding mountains. It encompasses part of the great Columbia Icefield, the meltwaters of which feed rivers that flow to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. The park’s wildlife includes bear, elk, moose, caribou, and cougar.
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Jaspers ► Jawlensky I 981
Jaspers \'yas-p9rs\, Karl (Theodor) (b. Feb. 23, 1883, Oldenburg, Ger.—d. Feb. 26, 1969, Basel, Switz.) German-Swiss philosopher and psychiatrist. As a research psychiatrist, he helped establish psychopathol¬ ogy on a rigorous, scientifically descriptive basis, especially in his Gen¬ eral Psychopathology (1913). He taught philosophy at the University of Heidelberg from 1921 until 1937, when the Nazi regime forbade him to work. From 1948 he lived in Switzerland, teaching at the University of Basel. In his magnum opus. Philosophy (3 vol., 1969), he argued that the aim of philosophy is practical; its purpose is the fulfillment of human existence ( Existenz ). For Jaspers, philosophical illumination is achieved in the experience of limit situations, such as conflict, guilt, and suffering, that define the human condition. In its confrontation with these extremes mankind achieves its existential humanity. He is one of the most impor¬ tant figures of EXISTENTIALISM.
Jassy See Iasi
Jassy \'ya-se. Treaty of (Jan. 9, 1792) Pact signed at Jassy in Mol¬ davia (modern Ia§i, Rom.), at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish Wars. The treaty confirmed Russian dominance in the Black Sea by advancing the Russian frontier to the Dniester River. It also restored Bessarabia, Moldavia, and Walachia to the Ottoman Turks.
jaundice Excess bile pigments (bilirubin) in the bloodstream and tissues, causing a yellow to orange—even greenish—colour in the skin, the whites of the eyes, and the mucous membranes. Bilirubin may be overproduced or inadequately removed by the liver or leak into the bloodstream after removal; jaundice may also be due to impaired bile flow. Causes include anemia, pneumonia, and liver disorders (e.g., infection or cirrhosis). While bilirubin excess usually does no harm, retention jaundice signals severe liver malfunction.
Jaures \zho-'res\, (Auguste-Marie-Joseph-) Jean (b. Sept. 3, 1859, Castres, France—d. July 31,
1914, Paris) French socialist leader.
He served in the Chamber of Depu¬ ties (1885-89, 1893-98, 1902-14) and at first adopted the ideas of Alex¬ andre Millerand. After 1899 the socialists split into two groups, and Jaures headed the French Socialist Party, advocating reconciliation with the state. In the newspaper L’Humanite, which he cofounded in 1904, he espoused democratic socialism, but when the Second Inter¬ national (1904) rejected his position he acquiesced. In 1905 the two French socialist parties united, and his authority continued to grow. On the eve of World War I, he espoused peace through arbitration and cham¬ pioned Franco-German rapproche¬ ment, which earned him the hatred of French nationalists, and he was assassinated in 1914 by a young nation¬ alist fanatic. He wrote several books, including the influential Socialist History of the French Revolution (1901-07).
Java \'ja-va\ Indonesian Djawa Island (pop., 2000 prelim.: 121,352,608), Indonesia. Lying southeast of Sumatra, it is Indonesia’s fourth largest island, and it contains more than half of the country’s popu¬ lation. Its area, including offshore Madura Island, is 49,228 sq mi (127,499 sq km). The capital of Java and of Indonesia is Jakarta. The island’s highest point is Mount Semeru, an active volcano measuring 12,060 ft (3,676 m) high. It is inhabited by three major ethnic groups: the Javanese (who constitute 70% of the population), the Sundanese, and the Madurese. The fossilized remains of Homo erectus, or “Java man,” indi¬ cate that the island was occupied some 800,000 years ago. Indian traders began arriving in the 1st century ad, bringing Hindu influences. The Majapahit dynasty was founded in eastern Java in 1293; it fell early in the 16th century when Muslim kingdoms arose. In 1619 the Dutch East India Company took control of Batavia (Jakarta) and extended its influ¬ ence. Ruled by the Dutch until the 1940s when it was occupied by Japan, it became part of newly independent Indonesia in 1950.
Java Modular object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in 1995 specifically for the Internet. Java is based on the
idea that the same software should run on many different kinds of com¬ puters, consumer gadgets, and other devices; its code is translated accord¬ ing to the needs of the machine on which it is running. The most visible examples of Java software are the interactive programs called “applets” that animate sites on the World Wide Web, where Java is a standard cre¬ ative tool. Java provides an interface to HTML.
Java man Common name of fossilized Homo erectus remains found in 1891 at Trinil, Java. The remains, a skullcap and thighbone, represent the first known fossils of H. erectus (though originally assigned to Pithecan¬ thropus erectus ) and, together with numerous other finds along the Solo River, suggest that H. erectus was present in eastern Asia some 1,000,000 years ago and persisted there for at least 500,000 years and possibly as long as 800,000 years. Java man predates the finds at Zhoukoudian (Peking Man) in China and is considered somewhat more primitive.
Java Sea Part of the western Pacific Ocean between Java and Borneo islands. Measuring 900 mi (1,450 km) long by 260 mi (420 km) wide, it occupies a total area of 167,000 sq mi (433,000 sq km). A shallow sea, it has a mean depth of 151 ft (46 m). It was the scene of a World War II naval battle (1942) that resulted in an Allied defeat and Japan’s invasion of Java.
Javanese Any member of the largest ethnic group on the island of Java, Indonesia. They speak an Austronesian language. The Javanese are Mus¬ lim, though relatively few are strictly observant. Traditional Javanese social organization varied in structure from relatively egalitarian villages to the highly stratified society of the cities; these differences find expres¬ sion in the many Javanese styles of speech still in use. Javanese villages are compact groups of single-family houses, generally built of bamboo, surrounding a central square. Rice is the main food crop. The growth of large cities in Java has produced an urban underclass who live in make¬ shift huts in enclosed neighbourhoods.
JavaScript Computer programming language developed by Netscape in 1995 for use in HTML pages. JavaScript is a scripting language (or inter¬ preted language), which is not as fast as compiled languages (such as Java or C++) but easier to learn and use. It is only loosely related to Java, and is not a true object-oriented language (see object-oriented programming). JavaScript can be quickly added to a pure HTML page to provide dynamic features, such as automatically calculating the current date or activating an action. The JavaScript code must be interpreted and executed by a browser as it reads the Web page or by a Web server before it delivers the page to the browser.
javelin See peccary
javelin throw Track-and-field sport of throwing a wooden or metal spear for distance. It is hurled after a short run and must land point-first. The men’s javelin is 8.5 ft (260 cm) long, the women’s 7.2 ft (220 cm). Included in the ancient Greek Olympic Games as part of the pentathlon, the javelin throw has been part of the modern Olympic program since its inception in 1896. A women’s event was added in 1932. See also decath¬ lon; HEPTATHLON.