aplite or haplite Any igneous rock of simple composition, such as granite composed only of alkali feldspar, muscovite mica, and quartz; in
a more restricted sense, uniformly fine-grained (less than 0.08 in., or 2 mm), light-coloured igneous rocks that have a characteristic granular tex¬ ture. Unlike pegmatite, which is similar but much coarser-grained, aplite occurs in small bodies that rarely contain zones of different minerals. The two rocks may occur together and are assumed to have formed at the same time from similar magmas.
Apo \'a-po\, Mt. Active volcano, Mindanao, Philippines. Located west of Davao City, it is the highest point in the Philippines, at 9,690 ft (2,954 m). In 1939 its slopes and immediate vicinity were incorporated into Mount Apo National Park, which includes numerous peaks and valleys as well as Malasita Falls and Sibulao Lake.
apocalypse Vs-'pa-ko-.lipsV In many Western religious traditions, the period of catastrophic upheaval expected to occur just before the end of the world, when God will come to sit in judgment on humankind. The belief that the world will come to a violent and cataclysmic end exists in Judaism and Christianity as well as in Zoroastrianism. Several of the pro¬ phetic works of the Hebrew Scriptures, notably the book of Daniel, include visions of the apocalypse. The book of Revelation (or Apocalypse) gives a dark and dramatic picture of the end of time, when the wicked will be punished and the good will triumph through God’s intervention. The approach of the Last Days is expected to be marked by famines, wars, earthquakes, plagues, and other natural disasters, along with signs in the heavens. Today apocalyptic themes are emphasized by various religious groups (e.g., fundamentalist Christians) and have also been taken up by science-fiction writers. See also eschatology; millennialism.
Apocrypha \3-'pa-kr3-fo\ In biblical literature, works outside an accepted canon of scripture. In modern usage the Apocrypha refers to ancient Jewish books that are not part of the Hebrew Bible but are con¬ sidered canonical in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Among the various books included are Tobit, Judith, Baruch, and the Maccabees as well as Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon. Protestant churches follow Jewish tradition in judging these works apocryphal or noncanon- ical. The term deuterocanonical is used to refer to works accepted in one canon but not all. Pseudepigrapha are spurious works for which biblical authorship is claimed.
Apollinaire \a-p6-le-'ner\, Guillaume orig. Guillelmus (or Wil¬ helm) Apollinaris de Kos- trowitzky (b. Aug. 26, 1880,
Rome?, Italy—d. Nov. 9, 1918,
Paris, Fr.) French poet of Polish- Italian birth. Arriving in Paris at age 20, Apollinaire always kept his early years obscure. In his short life he took part in all the avant-garde movements that flourished at the beginning of the 20th century. His poetry was characterized by daring, even outrageous, technical experi¬ ments. Because of his efforts to cre¬ ate an effect of surprise by means of unusual verbal associations and word patterns, he is often considered the herald of Surrealism. His poetic masterpiece was Alcools (1913). His death resulted from a head wound received in World War I.
Apollo Most widely revered of the Greek gods. He communicated the will of his father Zeus, made humans aware of their guilt and purified them of it, presided over religious and civil law, and foretold the future. His bow symbolized distance, death, terror, and awe; his lyre symbolized music, poetry, and dance. As a patron of the arts, he was often associated with the Muses. He was also a god of crops and herds. He became associated with the sun, and was even identified with Helios, the sun god. Also associated with healing, he was the father of Asclepius. By tradition, Apollo and his twin, Artemis, were born at Delos to Leto. Apollo’s oracle was established at Delphi; the Pythian Games commemorated his killing (while still an infant) of the serpent Python to take the shrine. His many lovers fared poorly: the fleeing Daphne became a laurel tree; the unfaithful Coronis was shot by Artemis, and Cassandra, who rejected him, was doomed to utter true prophecies no one would believe. See photograph opposite page.
Apis, bull deity, painted on the bottom of a wooden coffin, c. 700 bc; in the Roemer und Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Ger.
BAVARIA VERLAG
Apollinaire, drawing by Pablo Picasso from the frontispiece to Calligrammes,
1918
H. ROGER-VIOLLET
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Apollo ► Appalachian Geosyncline I 89
Apollo NASA manned Moon-landing project of the 1960s and ’70s. The Apollo spacecraft, supplied with their own low-powered rockets, could brake on approach to the Moon and go into lunar orbit. They also could release part of the spacecraft, the lunar module, with its own rocket power, to land astronauts on the Moon and bring them back to the lunar orbiter. In July 1969 Apollo 11 made the first lunar landing (see Edwin Aldrin; Neil Armstrong). In 1970 Apollo 13 was damaged by an explosion in an oxygen tank but returned safely to Earth. Later Apollo missions explored the lunar surface extensively, collecting samples of Moon rocks and installing instruments for research. Apollo 17, the program’s final lunar flight, took place in 1972. In total, 12 American astronauts walked on the Moon during six successful lunar-landing missions.
Apollo asteroid See Earth-crossing asteroid
Apollo Theatre During and after the Harlem Renaissance, a centre of African-American popular music on 125th Street in New York City’s Harlem district. Built in 1914, it hosted musical performers such as Bill Robinson, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Duke Ellington, and oth¬ ers in the 1930s and ’40s; stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and James Brown were discovered on Wednesday amateur nights. In the 1960s the Apollo featured soul artists such as the Supremes, Stevie Won¬ der, and Marvin Gaye. Converted into a movie theatre in 1975, it was reopened as a performance venue in 1983.
Apollonius Dyscolos V.ap-o-'lo-ne-os-'dis-ko-losV (fl. 2nd century ad) Greek grammarian. Apollonius is considered the founder of the system¬ atic study of grammar. Priscian based his work on the writings of Apol¬ lonius. Four of Apollonius’s works survive: On Syntax and the shorter treatises On Pronouns , On Conjunctions, and On Adverbs.
Apollonius of Perga (b. c. 240 bc, Perga, Anatolia—d. c. 190 bc, Alexandria, Egypt) Mathematician known as “The Great Geometer.” His Conics was one of the greatest scientific treatises of the ancient world. In it he introduced the terms parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola. Because Con¬ ics was fundamental to later advances in optics and astronomy in the Islamic world, a 9th-century Arabic translation survived to fill in for some of the missing Greek original. Generally, his other writings survive only as titles.
Apollonius of Rhodes (b. c. 295 bc) Greek poet and grammarian. He served as librarian of the famous Library of Alexandria. His Argonautica, a romantic epic in four books about the Argonauts, is derived from Homer and is noted for its suggestive similes, vivid descriptions of nature, and fresh handling of old episodes.