Auckland City (pop., 2001: 377,382; metro, area pop.: 1,158,891), North Island, New Zealand. Located on Waitemata and Manukau har¬ bours, it is the country’s principal port and largest city. Founded in 1840 as New Zealand’s capital and named for George Eden, earl of Auckland, it remained the capital until superseded by Wellington in 1865. It is a major manufacturing and shipping centre. A bridge links it with the grow¬ ing northern shore suburbs and with Devonport, New Zealand’s chief naval base.
auction Buying and selling of property through open public bidding. Typically, potential purchasers make a succession of increasing bids or offers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer. At a so-called Dutch auction, by contrast, the seller offers property at succes¬ sively lower prices until one of his offers is accepted or until the price drops so low as to force the withdrawal of the offered property. Prospec¬ tive buyers are usually allowed to examine auction items beforehand, and sellers may set a minimum price below which the property will not be sold. Auctions are important in the agricultural markets of many coun¬ tries, permitting the rapid sale of perishable goods. Other items often sold at auction include artwork and antiques, secondhand goods, and farms and buildings repossessed by banks or the government. Auctions can be struc¬ tured in many ways (e.g., bids submitted in person, via telephone, or over the Internet). Auction selling is also employed on stock and commodity exchanges.
Auden, W(ystan) H(ugh) (b. Feb. 21, 1907, York, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Sept. 29, 1973, Vienna, Austria) British-born U.S. poet and man of letters. He attended Oxford University, where he exerted a strong influ¬ ence on C. Day-Lewis, Louis MacNeice, and Stephen Spender. Auden’s var¬ ied works throughout his life dealt with intellectual and moral issues of public concern as well as with the inner world of fantasy and dream. In the 1930s he became a hero of the left, pointing up the evils of capital¬ ism while also warning against those of totalitarianism. He collaborated with Christopher Isherwood on three verse dramas. Auden’s later writing
Inscribed attic surmounting the main cornice of the Arch of Titus, Rome, ad
81
A.F. KERSTING
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130 I audio card ► Augustan Age
reflects changes in his life (he became a U.S. citizen) and in his religious and intellectual perspective (he embraced Christianity and became disillusioned with the left) and occasionally his homosexuality.
His poetic works include The Age of Anxiety (1947, Pulitzer Prize) and the collections Another Time (1940) and Homage to Clio (1960). With his longtime companion Chester Kail- man, he wrote opera librettos, nota¬ bly The Rake’s Progress (1951) for Igor Stravinsky.
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Audion Elementary radio tube developed by Lee De Forest (patented 1907). It was the first triode vacuum tube, incorporating a control grid as well as a cathode and an anode. It was capable of more sensitive recep¬ tion of wireless signals than were the electrolytic and Carborundum detec¬ tors then in use. The Audion made possible live radio broadcasting and became the key component of all radio, telephone, radar, television, and computer systems before the invention of the transistor.
audit Examination of the records and reports of an enterprise by account¬ ing specialists other than those responsible for their preparation. Public auditing by independent accountants is common in large firms. The audi¬ tor performs tests to determine whether the firm’s statements were pre¬ pared in accordance with acceptable accounting principles and that they fairly present its financial position and operating results. Personal tax audits are carried out to determine whether people have accurately reported their financial circumstances when filing their taxes. Failing such an audit may result in a fine, or, in cases of extensive and deliberate deception, criminal prosecution. See also Internal Revenue Service.
auditorium Portion of a theater or hall where an audience sits, as dis¬ tinct from the stage. The auditorium originated in the theaters of ancient Greece, as a semicircular seating area cut into a hillside. Floor levels in a large auditorium may include stalls, private boxes, dress circle, balcony or upper circle, and gallery. A sloping floor and converging walls allow for a clear view of the stage and improve acoustics. The walls and ceil¬ ings of contemporary auditoriums usually conceal light, sound, and air- conditioning equipment.
Audubon, John James orig. Fouaere Rabin or Jean Rabin later Jean-Jacques Fougere Audubon (b. April 26, 1785, Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue, West Indies —d. Jan. 27, 1851, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. ornithologist, artist, and naturalist known for his drawings and paintings of North American birds. Bom to a French merchant in Haiti, he returned with his father to France, where he briefly studied painting with Jacques-Louis David before moving to the U.S. at age 18. From his father’s Pennsylvania estate, he made the first American bird-banding experiments. After failing in business ventures, he concentrated on draw¬ ing and studying birds, which took him from Florida to Labrador. His extraordinary four-volume Birds of America was published in London in 1827-38. He simultaneously published the extensive accompanying text Ornithological Biography (5 vol., 1831-39). His multivolume Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1842-54) was completed by his sons. Though his bird poses are sometimes unrealistic (the result of painting dead birds wired into position) and some details are inaccurate, few argue with the excellence of his illustrations as art, and his studies were fun¬ damental to New World ornithology.
Audubon Society, National U.S. organization dedicated to con¬ serving and restoring natural ecosystems. Founded in 1905 and named for John James Audubon, the society has 600,000 members and maintains more than 100 wildlife sanctuaries and nature centres throughout the U.S. Its high-priority campaigns include preserving wetlands and endangered forests, protecting corridors for migratory birds, and conserving marine wildlife. Its 300-member staff includes scientists, educators, sanctuary managers, and government-affairs specialists.
Auerstedt, Battle of See Battles of Jena and Auerstedt
auger Tool (or bit) used with a carpenter’s brace for drilling holes, usu¬ ally in wood. It looks like a corkscrew and produces extremely clean holes, almost regardless of how large the bit is. Expansive auger bits have adjustable blades with cutting edges and spurs that can be extended radi¬ ally to cut large holes. Large augers are used to bore holes in soil for fence posts and telephone poles, or in ice for ice fishing. Horizontal augers as much as 8 ft (2.5 m) in diameter are used in coal mining.
augite \'o-j!t\ Most common pyroxene mineral, occurring chiefly as blocky crystals in basalts, gabbros, andesites, and various other dark igne¬ ous rocks. It also is a common constituent of lunar basalts and meteor¬ ites and may be found in certain metamorphic rocks, such as pyroxenites. Because the diopside-hedenbergite series and augite are nearly indistin¬ guishable, the term augite is sometimes used to designate any dark green to black pyroxene with monoclinic symmetry (three unequal crystallo¬ graphic axes with one oblique intersection).
Augsburg \'auks-,burk\ City (pop., 2002 est.: 257,800), Bavaria, south¬ ern Germany. Founded as a Roman colony by Augustus c. 14 bc, it was the seat of a bishopric by ad 739. It became an imperial free city in 1276 and joined the Swabian League in 1331. The Fugger and Welser families made the city a major banking and commercial centre in the 15th-16th centuries. The Augsburg Confession was read at the Diet of 1530; the Peace of Augsburg was concluded in 1555; and the League of Augsburg was formed in 1686. The city became part of Bavaria in 1806. It was heavily bombed during World War II. Sites of interest include the Fug- gerei (1519), the world’s oldest housing settlement for the poor.