Shannon, River River, Ireland. The country’s longest river, it rises in northwestern County Cavan and flows for about 230 mi (370 km) to enter the Atlantic Ocean below Limerick. It is surrounded by marshes and bogs for much of its course and widens at various points into lakes, many with islands. In the early 19th century it was a vital link in the waterways of Ireland; today it is used by pleasure craft.
Shantung See Shandong
Shanxi \'shan-'she\ or Shan-hsi conventional Shansi \'shan-'se\ Province (pop., 2000 est.: 32,970,000), northern China. It is bordered by Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces and Inner Mongolia. It has an area of 60,700 sq mi (157,100 sq km). The capital is Taiyuan. Largely a vast plateau covered by great loess deposits, it was the home of early Chinese agriculture. Most of the people are Han Chinese; other ethnic groups include Hui (Chinese Muslims), Mongols, and Manchus. Since ancient times it has been an integral part of the various northern kingdoms of China, serving as a buffer against invaders from the north and as a key trade route. It was one of the major avenues by which Buddhism came to China from India. After the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911-12, the warlord Yan Xishan ruled as absolute dictator until the end of World War II. Japan occupied part of the province during the Sino-Japanese War. Communist forces assumed control of Shanxi in 1949. It has vast reserves of coal and iron and the largest titanium and vanadium deposits in China, and it is China’s largest provincial producer of cotton.
Shao Yong or Shao Yung Vshau-'yugV (b. 1011, Kung-ch’eng, China—d. 1077, Henan) Chinese philosopher who greatly influenced the development of the idealist school of Neo-Confucianism. Originally a Dao- ist, he refused all offers of government office and lived in a hermitage outside Henan. He became interested in Confucianism by studying the Yl jing, from which he developed his theory that numbers are the basis of all existence. He believed that the key to the world hinged on the num¬ ber four; thus the universe is divided into four sections (sun, moon, stars, zodiac), the body into four sense organs (eye, ear, nose, mouth), and the earth into four substances (fire, water, earth, stone). He also introduced to Confucianism the Buddhist concept of the universe’s repeating cycles.
shape-note singing U.S. a cappella singing style incorporating many folk hymns and utilizing a special musical notation. The seven-note scale used by some singers is sung not to the syllables do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti but to a four-syllable system brought to America by early English colonists: fa-sol-la-fa-sol-la-mi. The system reflects the fact that a series of three intervals repeats itself in the major scale. A differently shaped note head is used for each of the four syllables. The singer reads the music by fol¬ lowing the shapes; singers unfamiliar with the system can read the notes according to their placement on the staff. The tradition started in New
England and moved South and West as more sophisticated forms of music reached the U.S. Shape-note singing had largely died out except in rural areas by the 1880s, but it has experienced a revival in recent years. The traditional shape-note hymnal, The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844, remains in use today.
shaper Metal-cutting machine tool in which the workpiece is usually held in a vise or similar device that is clamped to a table and can be manu¬ ally operated or power-driven at right angles to the path of a chisel-like cutting tool with only one cutting edge. A moving table feeds the work- piece in small, individual steps at the end of each stroke of the tool. The adjustable mounting of the tool permits the cutting of grooves and gen¬ erating of surfaces at almost any angle to one another. The largest shapers have a 36-in. (0.9-m) cutting stroke and can machine parts up to 36 in. (0.9 m) long. See also planer.
Shapley, Harlow (b. Nov. 2, 1885, Nashville, Mo., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1972, Boulder, Colo.) U.S. astronomer. In 1911 he began a determination of the dimensions of the components of numerous binary stars from mea¬ surements of their light variation when they eclipse one another; he also proposed (correctly) that Cepheid variables are pulsating variable stars, not eclipsing binaries (see eclipsing variable star). In 1914 he joined the staff of Mount Wilson Observatory. His study of the distribution of globular clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy led him to deduce that the Sun, previ¬ ously thought to lie near the centre of the Galaxy, was 50,000 light-years from the centre (now estimated at about 27,000), leading to the first real¬ istic estimate of the Galaxy’s size. Shapley also studied neighbouring gal¬ axies, especially the Magellanic Clouds, and found that galaxies tend to occur in clusters.
shar-pei Vshar-'paX Ancient breed of dog that originated in China. Shar- peis are notable for their loose, wrinkled skin, especially when young. They have a short bristly coat, wide blunt muzzle, blue-black tongue, and unusual black gums.
Sha'ranl \,sha-ra-'ne\, al- orig. ( Abd al-Wahhab ibn Ahmad (b.
1492, Cairo—d. 1565, Cairo) Egyptian scholar and mystic, founder of the Sufi order known as the Sha'rawiyyah. Throughout his career he sought to avoid the extremism he saw in the various theological sects of Islam, as well as in other Sufi orders; his aim was to take the best from each, ignoring conflicts between them. Since his thoughts and writings were unsystematic and confused, the appeal of his teachings depended largely on his personal presence. The order gradually declined after his death, though it remained popular until the 19th century.
Sharansky, Natan See Anatoly Shcharansky sharecropping See tenant farming Shari River See Chari River
Sharl'ah \'sha-'re-a\ Legal and moral code of Islam, systematized in the early centuries of the Muslim era (8th-9th century ad). It rests on four bases: the Qur’an; the sunna, as recorded in the Hadith; ijma, or agree¬ ment among scholars; and qiya, or analogical reasoning. Sharfah differs fundamentally from Western law in that it purports to be grounded in divine revelation. Among modem Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran retain Sharfah as the law of the land, in both civil and criminal pro¬ ceedings, but the legal codes of most other Muslim countries combine elements of Islamic and Western law where necessary. Most Islamic fun¬ damentalist groups insist that Muslim countries should be governed by Sharfah.
Sharlk Peninsula or Cape Bon \'bo n \ Peninsula Peninsula, northeastern Tunisia. Extending northeast into the Mediterranean Sea, it is about 50 mi (80 km) long. During World War II (1939-45), it was occupied by German troops in retreat from Egypt and Libya (1943); they soon surrendered to the Allied Powers there.
shark Any of more than 300 species of predatory cartilaginous fish (order Selachii). An ancient animal, it has changed little in 100 million years. The skin typically is dull gray and tough and has toothlike scales. Most sharks have a muscular, asymmetrical, upturned tail; pointed fins; a pointed snout; and sharp triangular teeth. Sharks have no swim bladder and must swim perpetually to keep from sinking. Most species bear liv¬ ing young. Several species can be dangerous to humans (e.g., great white SHARK, HAMMERHEAD SHARK, SAND SHARK, TIGER SHARK); Smaller Ones, Called topes, hounds, and dogfishes, are fished commercially. See also basking shark, MACKEREL SHARK, MAKO SHARK, THRESHER SHARK, WHALE SHARK.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1734 I sharksucker > Shawn
sharksucker See remora Sharm al-Sheikh See Cape NasranT
Sharon \sh9-'ron\, Ariel (b. Feb. 26, 1928, Kefar Malal, Palestine) Israeli soldier and politician. He received military training early in life and did intelligence and reconnaissance work after Israel achieved inde¬ pendence. During the Suez Crisis (1956) and again during the Six-Day War (1967), a unit under his command captured the strategic Mitla Pass. In the Yom Kippur War (1973), he led an Israeli counterattack. Appointed min¬ ister of agriculture in charge of settlements in 1977, he actively promoted Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As minister of defense (1981-83), he oversaw Israel’s invasion of Lebanon (see Lebanese civil war). An Israeli court of inquiry held Sharon indirectly responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres, and he was forced to resign in 1983. He held several further cabinet positions throughout the 1980s and ’90s and in 1999 became head of the Likud party. Elected prime minister in 2001, Sharon faced increased fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. In an effort to stem the violence, he initiated a plan to withdraw Israeli settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in 2005. In November 2005 Sharon quit Likud to form Kadima (“Forward”), a cen¬ trist party. In January 2006 he suffered a massive stroke, and power was transferred to an acting prime minister.