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Java Man

Java Man

Pithecanthropus erectus was the name first given to the Homo erectus specimen, also known as Java Man, by its discoverer Eugène Dubois. The word "pithecanthropos" was derived from Greek roots and means ape man. See also Peking Man. Dubois' find was not a complete specimen, as many are led to believe, but consisted merely of a skullcap, a femur, and three teeth. A 342-page report written shortly after the find throws much doubt upon the validity of this particular specimen. Despite this, the Java Man is still found in many textbooks today. A second Java Man was later discovered in the village of Sangiran, Central Java, 18km to the north of Solo. His remains, a skullcap of similar size to that found by Dubois, was discovered by Berlin-born paleontologist GHR von Koenigswald in 1936, as a direct result of excavations by Dubois in 1891. Until older human remains were discovered in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, Dubois' and Koenigswald's discoveries were the oldest hominid remains ever found, and the first cited as support for Charles Darwin's and Alfred Russell Wallace's theory of evolution. Many scientists of the day even suggested that Dubois' Java Man might have been the so-called "missing link", the creature that is supposed to provide the evolutionary connection between the apes and modern man. However, due to 19th Century scepticism, this theory was never credited to Dubois. ---- "Pithecanthropus Erectus" is also the title of an album by Charles Mingus. Category:early hominids

Homo erectus

Homo erectus ("upright man") is a hominin species that is believed to be an ancestor of modern humans (with Homo heidelbergensis usually treated as an intermediary step). The species is found from the middle Pleistocene onwards. Eugène Dubois discovered Java Man in Indonesia in 1891, naming it Pithecanthropus erectus. The modern species name was initially proposed by Ernst Mayr in order to unify the classification of Asian fossils.

Description

The findings had fairly modern human features, with a larger cranial capacity than that of Homo habilis. The forehead is less sloping and the teeth are smaller (quantification of these differences is difficult however, see below). Homo erectus would bear a striking resemblance to modern humans, but had a brain about 74 percent of the size of modern man. These early hominids were tall, on average standing about 1.79 m (5 feet, 10 inches) tall. Homo erectus also used more diverse and sophisticated tools than its predecessors. One theory is that H. erectus first used tools of the Oldowan style and then later used tools of the Acheulean style. The surviving tools from both periods are all made of stone. Oldowan tools are the oldest known formed tools and date as far back as about 2.4 million years ago. The Acheulean era began about 1.2 million years ago and ended about 500,000 years ago. The primary innovation associated with Acheulean handaxes is that the stone was chipped on both sides to form two cutting edges. Acheulean Homo erectus (along with Homo ergaster) was probably the first early human to fit squarely into the category of a hunter and predator and not as prey for larger animals. They migrated all throughout the Great Rift Valley, even up to the Red Sea Early man, in the person of Homo erectus, was learning to master his environment for the first time. Some dispute that H. erectus was able to control fire. However, the earliest (least disputed) evidence of controlled fire is around 300,000 years old and comes from a site called Terra Amata, which lies on an ancient beach location on the French Riviera. This site seems to have been occupied by Homo erectus. There are older Homo erectus sites that seem to indicate controlled use of fire, some dating back 500,000 to 1.5 million years ago, in France, China, and other areas. A discovery brought forth at the Paleoanthropology Society Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada in March of 2004 stated that controlled fires have been evidenced in excavations in Northern Israel from about 690,000 to 790,000 years ago. Regardless, it can at least be surmised that the controlled use of fire was atypical of Homo erectus until its decline and the rise of more advanced species of the Homo genus came to the forefront (such as Homo antecessor, H. heidelbergensis and H. neanderthalensis). There is currently a great deal of discussion as to whether H. erectus and H. ergaster were separate species at all. This debate revolves around the interpretation of morphological differences between early African fossils (the classic H. ergaster) and those found in Asia (H. erectus; and late African sites). Since Erst Mayr's biological species definition cannot be tested, this issue may never be fully resolved.

Descendants and subspecies

Homo erectus remains one of the most successful and long-lived species of the Homo genus and unsurprisingly gave rise to a number of descendants and subspecies. Homo erectus |-> Homo erectus soloensis |-> Homo erectus palaeojavanicus |-> Homo floresiensis \-> Homo antecessor | |-> Homo heidelbergensis | \-> Homo neanderthalensis \-> Homo sapiens | |-> Homo rhodesiensis | \-> Homo cepranensis \-> Homo sapiens sapiens The discovery of Homo floresiensis, and particularly its recent survival, has raised the possibility that numerous descendant species of Homo erectus may have existed in the islands of south-east Asia which await fossil discovery.

Individual fossils

Existing Homo erectus fossils include:
- Java Man (1891) - originally named Pithecanthropus erectus
- Peking Man (1927)
- Turkana Boy (1984; also classified as Homo ergaster)

References

# Paolo Novaresio, The Explorers, published 1996 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, ISBN 1-55670-495-X ; p. 13: "[Homo erectus] roamed the natural corridor of the Great Rift Valley as far as the Red Sea." # Tattersall, Ian and Schwartz, Jeffrey. "Extinct Humans". Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado and Cumnor Hill, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0-8133-3482-9 (hc) Category:Early hominids Category:Pleistocene mammals Category:Pleistocene extinctions ja:ホモ・エレクトス

Peking Man

Peking Man (sometimes now called Beijing Man), also called Sinanthropus pekinensis (currently Homo erectus pekinensis), is an example of Homo erectus. The remains were first discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) near Beijing (Peking), China. Excavations had begun at Zhoukoudian in 1921, investigating a number of caves in the limestone there. The remains of around fifteen prehistoric individuals were uncovered, with the first fragments being exposed in 1923. The finds have been dated from roughly 250,000-400,000 years ago in the Pleistocene. The pre-war work was directed by Otto Zdansky, then Davidson Black and later by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Franz Weidenreich. The first specimens of H. erectus had been found in Java in 1891 by Eugene Dubois, with the Java Man initially being named Pithecanthropus erectus but later transferred to the genus Homo. All the pre-war finds at Zhoukoudian were lost at sea during transit to the US, forcing subsequent researchers to rely on casts and existing writings from the original discoverers. Contiguous finds of animal remains and evidence of fire and tool use and manufacture were used to support H. erectus being the first "faber" or tool-worker. The analysis of the remains of "Peking Man" led to the conclusion that the Zhoukoudian and Java fossils were examples of the same broad stage of human evolution. This interpretation was challenged in the 1980s by Louis Binford and others. The Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987. ja:北京原人 Category:early hominids Category:Pleistocene Category:World Heritage Sites in China

Surakarta

Surakarta (its formal name; locally it is referred to as Solo) is a city on the Indonesian island of Java. It is some 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Yogyakarta, and slightly further southeast of Semarang. The city was a center of power during the 18th century Mataram Kingdom.

Surakarta or Solo

The local inhabitants are more familiar with and use the name of "Solo" for the city, rather than "Surakarta". "Surakarta" is however used in formal and official contexts.

Geography

The town is situated on the Bengawan Solo River, the longest river on Java. The river is the inspiration for the song Bengawan Solo, a 1940s composition by Gesang Martohartono which became famous throughout much of Asia.

History

This is the older of the two royal cities in Central Java (the other is Yogyakarta), and its ruling family can lay claim to being the rightful heirs to the Mataram dynasty. Like Yogya, Solo has two royal palaces and a number of museums, yet its tourist industry is nowhere near as developed. The city's main source of income is from textiles, and Solo has the biggest batik market on Java. Solo also makes an ideal base from which to visit the home of Java Man at Sangiran, as well as the intriguing temples Candi Ceto and Candi Sukuh.

Pakubuwono II

Up until 1744, Solo was little more than a quiet backwater village, 10km east of Kartasura, the contemporary capital of the Mataram kingdom. But in that year the Mataram susuhunan (king), Pakubuwono II, backed the Chinese against the Dutch, and the court at Kartasura was sacked as a result. Pakubuwono II searched for a more auspicious spot to rebuild his capital, and in 1745 the entire court was dismantled and transported in a great procession to Surakarta, on the banks of the Kali Solo. However, the decline continued, and in 1757 a rival royal house of Mangkunegoro was established right in the centre of Solo. Thereafter, Solo's royal houses wisely avoided fighting and instead threw their energies into the arts, developing a highly sophisticated and graceful court culture. The gamelan pavilions became the new theatres of war, with each city competing to produce the more refined court culture.

Pakubuwono X

Perhaps the most significant ruler of the twentieth century, was Pakubuwono X. His relationship with the Dutch, and his large family, and his popularity contributed to perhaps the largest funeral procession that ever occurred in Solo. He had contributed large expenditure on the Royal Graveyard at Imogiri in the main sections of the graveyard, as well as towards the new section that he was buried in.

Local dialect

Although people in Jawa Tengah use the same language named "boso jowo" ("basa jawa", Javanese) they have special characteristics which differentiate them from which region they come. For example, for the word "cold" ("dingin" in Indonesian, especially for weather), people in Surakarta use the word "adem", but people in Semarang use the word "atis". Category:Cities in Indonesia ja:スラカルタ

Great Rift Valley

and Jordan River valley above]] The Great Rift Valley is a vast geographical and geological feature that runs north to south for some 5,000 km, from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa. The valley varies in width from 30-100 km and in depth from a few hundred to several thousand metres. It has been created through the rifting and separation of the African and Arabian tectonic plates that began around 35 million years ago in the north, and by the ongoing separation of East Africa from the rest of Africa along the East African Rift, which began about 15 million years ago. It was named by the explorer John Walter Gregory. The northernmost part of the Rift forms the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon separating the Lebanon Mountains and Anti-Lebanon Mountains. To the South in Israel, it is known as the Hula Valley separating between the Galilee mountains and the Golan Heights. Further South, the valley becomes the Jordan River, which flows southward through from Lake Hula into the Sea of Galilee in Israel and then continues South into the Dead Sea on the Israeli-Jordanian Border. From the Dead Sea southwards, the Rift is occupied by the Wadi Arabah and then the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. Red Sea The southern end of the Red Sea marks a fork in the rift. The Afar Triangle or Danakil Depression of Eritrea is the probable location of a triple junction which is possibly underlain by a mantle plume. The Gulf of Aden is an eastward continuation of the rift - before the rift opened, the Arabian Peninsula was attached to the Horn of Africa - and from this point the rift continues as part of the Mid-oceanic ridge of the Indian Ocean. In a southwest direction the fault continues as the Great Rift Valley, which split the older Ethiopian highlands into two halves. In eastern Africa the valley divides into two, the Eastern Rift and the Western Rift. The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is edged by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range, and contains the Rift Valley lakes, which include some of the deepest lakes in the world (up to 1,470 meters deep at Lake Tanganyika). Lake Victoria, the second largest area freshwater lake in the world, is considered part of the Rift Valley system although it actually lies between the two branches. The other Great Lakes are also formed by the rift. In Kenya the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi. As the lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outlet to the sea, these lakes tend to be shallow and have a high mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind. For example, Lake Magadi is almost solid soda (sodium carbonate), and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while Lake Naivasha needs to be supplied by freshwater springs to support its biological variety. Lake Naivasha where three plates are pulling away from one another: the Arabian Plate, and the two parts of the African Plate (the Nubian and the Somalian) splitting along the East African Rift Zone (USGS).]] The formation of the Rift Valley continues, probably driven by mantle plumes and ultimately a result of the African superswell. The associated geothermal activity and spreading at the rift has caused the lithosphere to thin from a typical 100 km thickness for continents to a mere 20 km. Within a few million years, the lithosphere may rupture and eastern Africa will split off to form a new landmass. If spreading continues, this will lead to the formation of a new mid-ocean ridge. The volcanic activity at this site and unusual concentration of hotspots has produced the volcanic mountains Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, Mount Karisimbi, Mount Nyiragongo, Mount Meru and Mount Elgon as well as the Crater Highlands in Tanzania. The Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano remains active, and is currently the only natrocarbonatite volcano in the world. The Rift Valley has been a rich source of anthropological discovery, especially in an area known as Piedmont. Because the rapidly eroding highlands have filled the valley with sediments, a favourable environment for the preservation of remains has been created. The bones of several hominid ancestors of modern humans have been found there, including those of "Lucy", a nearly complete australopithecine skeleton, which was discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson. Richard and Meave Leakey have also done significant work in this region.

External links

- [http://anthro.palomar.edu/hominid/images/map_of_great_rift_valley.gif Small simple-coloured map]
- [http://www.albertinerift.org/arift-protectedareas Maps from the Albertine Rift Programme]
- Category:Faults ja:グレート・リフト・バレー

Kenya

The Republic of Kenya, or Kenya (), is a country in East Africa. It borders Ethiopia on the north, Somalia on the east, Tanzania on the south, Uganda on the west, and Sudan on the northwest, with the Indian Ocean on the southeast.

History

Main article: History of Kenya Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's Lake Turkana indicate that hominids such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus lived in Kenya from 2.6 million years ago.

Colonial history

The colonial history of Kenya dates from the establishment of a German protectorate over the Sultan of Zanzibar's coastal possessions in 1885, followed by the arrival of the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1888. Incipient imperial rivalry was forestalled when Germany handed its coastal holdings to Britain in 1890. This followed the building of the Kenya-Uganda railway passing through the country. Although this was also resisted by some tribes, notably the Nandi led by Orkoiyot Koitalel arap Samoei for ten years between 1895 to 1905, these did not stop the British building the railway. It is believed that the Nandi were the first tribe to be put in a native reserve to stop them from disrupting the building of the railway. During the early part of the 20th century, the interior central highlands were settled by British and other European farmers, who became wealthy farming coffee. By the 1930's, approximately 30,000 settlers lived in the area and were offered undue political powers because of their effects on the economy. The area was already home to over a million members of the Kǐkǔyǔ tribe, most of whom had no land claims in European terms (but the land belonged to the ethnic group), and lived as itinerant farmers. To protect their interests, the settlers banned the growing of coffee, introduced a hut tax, and the landless were granted less and less land in exchange for their labour. A massive exodus to the cities ensued as their ability to provide a living from the land dwindled. From October 1952 to December 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the Mau Mau rebellion against British rule. The governor requested and obtained British and African troops, including the King's African Rifles. In January 1953, Major General Hinde was appointed as director of counter-insurgency operations. The situation did not improve for lack of intelligence, so General Sir George Erskine was appointed commander-in-chief of the colony's armed forces in May 1953, with the personal backing of Winston Churchill. The capture of Warǔhiǔ Itote (General China) on 15 January 1954 and the subsequent interrogation led to a better understanding of the Mau Mau command structure. Operation Anvil opened on 24 April 1954 after weeks of planning by the army with the approval of the War Council. The operation effectively placed Nairobi under military siege, and the occupants were screened and the Mau Mau supporters moved to detention camps. May 1953 also saw the Home Guard officially recognized as a branch of the Security Forces. The Home Guard formed the core of the government's anti-Mau Mau strategy as it was composed of loyalist Africans, not foreign forces like the British Army and King's African Rifles. By the end of the emergency the Home Guard had killed no fewer than 4,686 Mau Mau, amounting to 42% of the total insurgents. The capture of Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956 in Nyeri signified the ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau and essentially ended the military offensive.

Post-colonial history

The first direct elections for Africans to the Legislative Council took place in 1957. Despite British hopes of handing power to "moderate" African rivals, it was the Kenya African National Union (KANU) of Jomo Kenyatta, that formed a government shortly before Kenya became independent on 12th December 1963. A year later, Kenyatta became Kenya's first president. At Kenyatta's death in 1978, Daniel arap Moi became President. Daniel arap Moi retained the Presidency, being unopposed in elections held in 1979, 1983 (snap elections) and 1988, all of which were held under the single party constitution. The 1983 elections were held an year early, and were a direct result of an abortive military coup attempt on 01/08/1982. The abortive coup was masterminded by a lowly ranked Airforce serviceman, Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka and was staged mainly by enlisted men in the Airforce. The attempt was quickly suppressed by Loyalist forces led by the Army, the General Service Unit (GSU) — paramilitary wing of the police — and later the regular police, but not without civillian casualties. This event led to the disbanding of the entire Airforce and a large number of it's former members were either dismissed or court-martialled. The election held in 1988 saw the advent of the infamous mlolongo (queueing) system where voters were supposed to line up behind their favourite candidates instead of secret ballot. This was seen as the climax of a very undiplomatic regime and it led to widespread agitation for constitutional reform. Several contentious clauses, including the one allowing only one political party were changed in the following years. In democratic but flawed multiparty elections in 1992 and 1997, Daniel arap Moi won re-election. In 2002, Moi was constitutionally barred from running, and Mwai Kǐbakǐ, running for the opposition coalition "National Rainbow Coalition" — NARC, was elected President. The elections, judged free and fair by local and international observers, marked a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution.

Political Structure

Main article: Politics of Kenya Politics of Kenya Kenya is a republic; the President of Kenya is both the chief of state and the head of government. Kenya has a unicameral National Assembly consisting of 210 members elected to a term of up to five years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis. The president appoints the vice president and cabinet members from among those elected to the National Assembly. The attorney general and the speaker are ex officio members of the Assembly. The judiciary is headed by a High Court, consisting of a chief justice and High Court judges, and judges of Kenya's Court of Appeal (no associate judges), all appointed by the president. Kenya has had a multi-party system since 1991 via constitutional amendment, with politicians frequently "crossing the floor" or setting up new political parties and coalitions to achieve their political aims. In December 2002, Kenya held democratic and open elections and elected Mwai Kǐbakǐ as president from the National Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK) as president. The NAK and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) formed the NARC coalition that currently governs Kenya. The coalition consists of some of the brightest minds in Kenya such as Dr. Kilemi Mwiria, who received his doctorate in Education from Stanford University. He was also the former Secretary General of Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya's first lecturers' union. Kenya is in the process of rewriting its post-colonial constitution and its subsequent amendments that gave the president nearly unlimited powers and immunity from the law accounting for many of Kenya's current problems with corruption. Constitutional reform is being delayed by disagreement amongst the coalition members. The right-leaning NAK favours a centralized Presidential system, while the left leaning LDP -- led by Raila Odinga& Kalonzo Musyoka -- favor a parliamentary system with Prime Minister. After a long-lasting public debate, the people of Kenya rejected the government-supported draft constitution with a 57-43 majority in the historical November 21st referendum.Research by independent observer groups indicated that the majority of voters were oblivious of the proposed constitution's content owing largely to the tribal voting lines that leaders propagated and partly to a failed civic education program. The president never actively involved himself in the referendum process and instead insisted on letting Kenyans make an independent decision free from political influence. The defeat however created a political vacuum, as Kibaki responded to calls from the Orange Democratic Movement (supporters of the NO vote) for his resignation, by dissolving his cabinet. The president reconstituted his cabinet in a televised broadcast on 7th December. His new line up excluded members who had opposed the constitution in the referendum but retained some allies from the official opposition party KANU and loyalists, notably absent was former Transport minister Chris Murungaru who has been accused of corruption in the past. The reshuffle has drawn mixed reactions from different quarters with a number of nominees rejecting their appointments citing party policy and the opinion of constituents.

Administrative Structure

Raila Odinga Local administration is divided among eight provinces each headed by a presidentially appointed Provincial Commissioner. The provinces (Mkoa) are subdivided into districts (Wilaya) which are then subdivided into divisions (Tarafa). The divison is then subdivided into location (Mtaa) and then sub location (Kijiji). The Nairobi Area
- has special status and is not included in any district or province. The government supervises administration of districts and provinces, which are:
- Central
- Coast
- Eastern
- Nairobi Area
-
- North Eastern
- Nyanza
- Rift Valley
- Western Western

Geography

Kenya covers an area of 582,650 km². From the coast on the Indian Ocean the Low plains rise to central highlands. The highlands are bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west. The Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa. The highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya: Mount Kenya, which reaches 5,199 m and is also the site of glaciers. Climate varies from tropical along the coast to arid in interior. arid arid

Economy

Main article: Economy of Kenya Kenya's main economic strengths include tourism and agriculture. The economy is only now beginning to show some growth after years of stagnation. Some argue that this slow economic growth is because of poor management and uneven commitment to reform; others insist that it is due to falling commodity prices and poor access to Western markets. In 1993, the government of Kenya implemented a program of economic liberalization and reform that included the removal of import licensing, price controls, and foreign exchange controls. With the support of the World Bank, IMF, and other donors, the reforms led to a brief turnaround in economic performance following a period of negative growth in the early 1990s. One of the unintended consequence of freeing foreign exchange control was that it allowed a gold-and-diamond export scam in which the Kenyan government lost over 600 million US dollars. This resulted in a weak currency which hindered economic improvement. Kenya's GDP grew 5% in 1995 and 4% in 1996, and inflation remained under control. Growth slowed in 1997–1999 however. Political violence—namely the bombing of the U.S. Embassy by Al Qaeda in 1998—damaged the tourist industry, and Kenya's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Program lapsed. A new economic team was put in place in 1999 to revitalize the reform effort, strengthen the civil service, and curb corruption, but wary donors continue to question the government's commitment to western establishment ideas of sound economic policy. Considered by some to be long-term barriers to development are: electricity shortages, the government's continued and allegedly inefficient dominance of key sectors, corruption, the foreign debt burden, unstable international commodity prices, poor communication infrastructure and the effects of HIV/AIDS, which is having its effect on the most productive group of the population. The effects of HIV/AIDS has largely offset the previous high population growth which was caused by a high birth rate and reduced infant mortality due to better health care. Chief among Kenya's exports are: flowers (horticulture), fruits and Vegetables, tea, and coffee. Another key foreign exchange earner is tourism. tourism

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Kenya Kenya is a country of great ethnic diversity. Tension between the various groups accounts for many of Kenya's problems. During the early 1990s, clashes killed thousands and left tens of thousands homeless. Ethnically split opposition groups allowed the regime of Daniel arap Moi, in power from 1978 until 2002, to be re-elected for four terms, with the election in 1997 being marred by violence and fraud. Ethnic groups: Kĩkũyũ 22%, Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 15%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Ameru 6%, other African 12%, non-African (Asian, European, and Arab) 1% Religious affiliation: Various Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 28%, Muslim 6%, Traditional Religions 22%. Others include Hinduism, Jainism & the Bahá'í Faith. See also: List of cities in Kenya, Maasai. Maasai

Culture

Main article: Culture of Kenya
- List of cities in Kenya
- List of Kenyans
- List of writers from Kenya
- Music of Kenya
- National parks (Kenya)

Sports

Kenya is active in several sports, among them football (soccer), cricket, boxing and many others. But the country is chiefly known for its dominance in middle-distance and long-distance athletics. Kenya has regularly produced Olympic and Commonwealth Games champions at various distances, especially the 800 m, the 1,500 m, the 3,000 m steeplechase, the 5000 m and the 10,000 m races. Kenyan athletes continue to dominate the world of distance running, although competition from Morocco and Ethiopia has somewhat reduced this trend. The Marathon world record holder, Paul Tergat, and the current women's Boston Marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba, are the among the best-known and most respected athletes in Kenya. A retired Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion, Kipchoge Keino, is Kenya's most famous sportsman. Lately, there has been controversy in Kenyan athletics circles, with the defection of a number of Kenyan athletes to represent other countries, chiefly Bahrain and Qatar. The Kenyan Ministry of Sports has tried to stop the defections, but they have continued anyway, with Bernard Lagat the latest, choosing to represent the USA.

External links

Government
- [http://www.communication.go.ke/ Government Spokeperson]Office of Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Kenya.
- [http://www.kenya.go.ke/ Government of Kenya] Official site
- [http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/ State House Kenya] Official site State House, Kenya.
- [http://www.magicalkenya.com/ Kenya Tourism Board (Magical Kenya)] Official travel and tourism guide.
- [http://www.centralbank.go.ke/ Central Bank of Kenya] Currency exchange rates official site
- [http://www.investmentkenya.com/ Kenya Investment Authority] Provides information on investing.
- [http://www.kenya-airways.com/ Kenya Airways] Main Kenyan airline.
- [http://www.kenyaairports.com/ Kenya Airports Authority] Information on Kenyan Airports
- [http://www.kpa.co.ke/ Kenya Ports Authority] Information on Kenyan sea ports News
- [http://www.kbc.co.ke/ Kenya Broadcasting Corporation] State run media organization
- [http://www.nationmedia.com/ Daily Nation Online] Local independent newspaper
- [http://www.eastandard.net/ The Standard Online] Local independent newspaper
- [http://www.kenya-news.com Kenya News] The Top headlines from the major Kenyan newspapers. Overviews
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1024563.stm BBC - Country profile: Kenya]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ke.html CIA World Factbook - Kenya]
- [http://www.state.gov/p/af/ci/ke/ US State Department - Kenya] includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports Directories
- [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/Kenya.html Columbia University Libraries - Kenya] directory category of the WWW-VL
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Africa/Kenya/ Open Directory Project - Kenya] directory category
- [http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/kenya.html Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Kenya] directory category
- Category:African Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Peace and Security Council zh-min-nan:Kenya ko:케냐 ms:Kenya ja:ケニア simple:Kenya th:ประเทศเคนยา

Alfred Russell Wallace

:for the Cornish painter see Alfred Wallis Alfred Russel Wallace, OM , FRS (January 8 1823 – November 7 1913) was a British naturalist, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. Wallace's independent proposal of a theory of evolution by natural selection prompted Charles Darwin to reveal his own more developed and researched, but unpublished, theory sooner than he had intended.

Early life

Wallace was born at Usk, Monmouthshire. He was the eighth of nine children of Thomas Vere Wallace and Mary Anne Greenell. He attended grammar school in Hertford, but left when his family lost their remaining property. He worked for his older brother William in his surveying business, and between 1840 and 1843 spent his time surveying in the west of England and Wales. In 1844 he was hired as a master at the Collegiate School in Leicester. In 1845 his brother William died and Wallace returned to run the surveying business. surveying]]

Exploration and study of the natural world

In 1848, Wallace, together with another naturalist, Henry Walter Bates (whom he had met in Leicester), left for Brazil to collect specimens in the Amazon Rainforest, with the express intention of gathering facts in order to solve the riddle of the origin of species. Unfortunately, a large part of his collection was destroyed when his ship caught fire and sank while returning to Britain in 1852. From 1854 to 1862, he travelled through the Malay Archipelago or East Indies (now Malaysia and Indonesia), to collect specimens and study nature. His observations of the marked zoological differences across a narrow zone in the archipelago led to his hypothesis of the zoogeographical boundary now known as the Wallace line. One of his better known species descriptions during this trip is the gliding tree frog Rhacophorus nigropalmatus, Wallace's flying frog. His studies there were eventually published in 1869 as The Malay Archipelago.

Theory of evolution

: See also Publication of Darwin's theory. In 1855, Wallace published a paper, [http://www.wku.edu/%7Esmithch/wallace/S020.htm "On the Law Which has Regulated the Introduction of Species" (1855)], in which he gathers and enumerates general observations regarding the geographic and geologic distribution of species (biogeography), and concludes that "Every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a closely allied species." The paper was a foreshadowing of the momentous paper he would write three years hence. Wallace had once briefly met Darwin, and was one of Darwin's numerous correspondents from around the world, whose observations Darwin used to support his theories. Wallace knew that Darwin was interested in the question of how species originate, and trusted his opinion on the matter. Thus, he sent him his essay, [http://www.wku.edu/%7Esmithch/wallace/S043.htm "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type" (1858)], and asked him to review it. On 18 June 1858 Darwin received the manuscript from Wallace. In it, Wallace described a novel theory of what is now known as "natural selection," and he proposed that it explains the diversity of life. It was essentially the same as the theory that Darwin had worked on for twenty years, but had yet to publish. Darwin wrote in a letter to Charles Lyell: "he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as heads of my chapters!" Although Wallace had not requested that his essay be published, Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker decided to present the essay, together with excerpts from a paper that Darwin had written in 1844, and kept confidential, to the Linnean Society of London on 1 July 1858, highlighting Darwin's priority. Wallace accepted the arrangement after the fact, grateful that he had been included at all. Darwin's social and scientific status was at that time far greater than Wallace's, and it was unlikely that Wallace's views on evolution would have been taken as seriously. Though relegated to the position of co-discoverer, and never the social equal of Darwin or the other elite British natural scientists, Wallace was granted far greater access to tightly-regulated British scientific circles after the advocacy on his part by Darwin. When he returned to England, Wallace met Darwin and the two remained friendly afterwards.

Religious views, and application of the theory to mankind

In a letter to a relative in 1861, Wallace wrote: "I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that you consider the most sacred truths... I can see much to admire in all religions... But whether there be a God and whatever be His nature; whether we have an immortal soul or not, or whatever may be our state after death, I can have no fear of having to suffer for the study of nature and the search for truth...." In 1864, before Darwin had publicly addressed the subject—though others had—Wallace published a paper, The Origin of Human Races and the Antiquity of Man Deduced from the Theory of 'Natural Selection, applying the theory to mankind. Wallace subsequently became a spiritualist, and later maintained that natural selection cannot account for mathematical, artistic, or musical genius, as well as metaphysical musings, and wit and humor; and that something in "the unseen universe of Spirit" had interceded at least three times in history: 1. The creation of life from inorganic matter. 2. The introduction of consciousness in the higher animals. 3. The generation of the above-mentioned faculties in mankind. He also believed that the raison d'être of the universe was the development of the human spirit. (See Wallace (1889)). These views greatly disturbed Darwin in his lifetime, who argued that spiritual appeals were not necessary and that sexual selection could easily explain such apparently non-adaptive phenomena. In many accounts of the history of evolution, Wallace is relegated to a role of simply being the "stimulus" to Darwin's own theory. In reality, Wallace developed his own distinct evolutionary views which diverged from Darwin's, and was considered by many (especially Darwin) to be a chief thinker on evolution in his day whose ideas could not be ignored. He is among the most cited naturalists in Darwin's Descent of Man, often in strong disagreement. Descent of Man
Precursor of ecology, and awards
Wallace was the first to propose a "geography" of animal species, and as such is considered one of the precursors of ecology and biogeography.
Awards
Among the many awards presented to Wallace were the Order of Merit (1908), the Royal Society's Copley Medal (1908), the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal (1892) and the Linnean Society's Gold Medal (1892). He is also honored by having craters on Mars and the Moon named after him. Having sometimes been referred to as "Darwin's Moon" it is amusing that Wallace has a crater on the Moon named after himself.
References

- Wallace, Alfred Russel (1889). [http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/wallace/S724CH15.htm Darwinism, Chapter 15.]
External links

- [http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/index1.htm The Alfred Russel Wallace Page]
- [http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/geo/travel/TheMalayArchipelagoVolume1/toc.html Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago]
-
Books about Wallace

- Just Before the Origin: Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Evolution by John Langdon Brooks ISBN 1583481117
- The Spice Islands Voyage: The Quest for Alfred Wallace, the Man Who Shared Darwin's Discovery of Evolution by Tim Severin ISBN 0786707216
- My Life an autobiography : (1905) Alfred Russel Wallace By Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London
See also

- Australia-New Guinea
- Wallace line Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Russel ja:アルフレッド・ラッセル・ウォレス

Ape

Hylobatidae
Hominidae Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, including humans. Currently, there are two families of hominoids:
- the family Hylobatidae consists of 4 genera and 12 species of gibbons, including the Lar Gibbon and the Siamang, collectively known as the "lesser apes"
- the family Hominidae consisting of gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans, collectively known as the "great apes". A few other primates have the word "ape" in their name, but they are not regarded as true apes. Except for gorillas and humans, all true apes are agile climbers of trees. They are best described as omnivorous, their diet consisting of fruit, grass seeds, and in most cases some quantities of meat and invertebrates—either hunted or scavenged—along with anything else available and easily digested. They are native to Africa and Asia, although humans have spread to all parts of the world. Most non-human ape species are rare or endangered. The chief threat to most of the endangered species is loss of tropical rainforest habitat, though some populations are further imperiled by hunting for bushmeat.

Historical and modern terminology

"Ape" (Old Eng. apa; Dutch aap; Old Ger. affo; Welsh epa; Old Czech op) is a word of uncertain origin and is possibly an imitation of the animal's chatter. The term has a history of rather imprecise usage. Its earliest meaning was a tailless (and therefore exceptionally human-like) non-human primate, but as zoological knowledge developed it became clear that taillessness occurred in a number of different and otherwise unrelated species. The original usage of "ape" in English may have referred to the baboon, an African monkey. Two tailless species of macaque are commonly named as apes, the Barbary Ape of North Africa (introduced into Gibraltar), Macaca sylvanus, and the Sulawesi Black Ape or Celebes Crested Macaque, M. nigra. Until a handful of decades ago, humans were thought to be distinctly set apart from the other apes (even from the other great apes), so much so that many people still don't think of the term "apes" to include humans at all. However, it is not accurate to think of apes in a biological sense without considering humans to be included. The terms "non-human apes" or "non-human great apes" is used with increasing frequency to show the relationship of humans to apes while yet talking only about the non-human species.

Biology

The gibbon family, Hylobatidae, is composed of thirteen medium-sized species. Their major distinction are their long arms which they use to brachiate through the trees. As an evolutionary adaption, to this arboreal lifestyle, their wrists are ball and socket joints. The largest of the gibbons, the Siamang weighs up to 23 kg, compared to the Common Chimpanzee's modest 40 to 65 kg. The great ape family was previously referred to as Pongidae, and humans (and fossil hominids) were omitted from it, but on grounds of relatedness there is no argument for doing this. Chimpanzees, gorillas, humans and orangutans are all more closely related to one another than any of these four genera are to the gibbons. Awkwardly, however, the term "hominid" is still used with the specific meaning of extinct animals more closely related to humans than the other great apes (for example, australopithecines). It is now usual to use even finer divisions, such as subfamilies and tribes to distinguish which hominoids are being discussed. Current evidence implies that humans share a common, extinct, ancestor with the chimpanzee line, from which we separated more recently than the gorilla line. Both great apes and lesser apes fall within Catarrhini, which also includes the Old World monkeys of Africa and Eurasia. Within this group, both families of apes can be distinguished from these monkeys by the number of cusps on their molars (apes have five—the "Y-5" molar pattern, Old World monkeys have only four in a "bilophodont" pattern). Apes have more mobile shoulder joints and arms, ribcages that are flatter front-to-back, and a shorter, less mobile spine compared to Old World monkeys. These are all anatomical adaptations to vertical hanging and swinging locomotion (brachiation) in the apes. All living members of the Hylobatidae and Hominidae are tailless, and humans can therefore accurately be referred to as bipedal apes. However there are also primates in other families that lack tails. Although the hominoid fossil record is far from complete, and the evidence is often fragmentary, there is enough to give a good outline of the evolutionary history of humans. The time of the split between humans and living apes used to be thought to have occurred 15 to 20 million years ago, or even up to 30 or 40 million years ago. Some apes occurring within that time period, such as Ramapithecus, used to be considered as hominins, and possible ancestors of humans. Later fossil finds indicated that Ramapithecus was more closely related to the orangutan, and new biochemical evidence indicated that the last common ancestor of humans and other hominins occurred between 5 and 10 million years ago, and probably in the lower end of that range. Ramapithecus therefore is no longer considered a hominin.

Cultural aspects

The intelligence and humanoid appearance of apes are responsible for legends which attribute human qualities; for example, apes are sometimes said to be able to speak but refuse to do so in order to avoid work. They are also said to be the result of a curse—a Jewish folktale claims that one of the races who built the Tower of Babel became apes as punishment, while Muslim lore says that the Jews of Elath became apes as punishment for fishing on the Sabbath. Christian folklore claims that apes are a symbol of lust and were created by Satan in response to God's creation of humans. It is uncertain whether any of these references is specifically to apes, since all date from a period when the distinction between apes and monkeys was not widely understood, or not understood at all.

New Species?

Also in 2002, a new giant ape troop was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These apes share many features of both chimpanzees and gorillas. According to a report from BBC News Online , the apes have large black faces, are two meters tall and make nests on the ground, all like gorillas. However, they live hundreds of kilometers from any other gorilla troops, and their diet is high in fruits, similar to the chimpanzee diet.

History of hominoid taxonomy

The history of hominoid taxonomy is somewhat confusing and complex. The names of subgroups have changed their meaning over time as new evidence from fossil discoveries, anatomy comparisons and DNA sequences, has changed understanding of the relationships between hominoids. The story of the hominoid taxonomy is one of gradual demotion of humans from a special position in the taxonomy to being one branch among many. It also illustrates the growing influence of cladistics (the science of classifying living things by strict descent) on taxonomy. As of 2005, there are eight extant genera of hominoids: Homo (humans), Pan (chimpanzees), Gorilla, Pongo (orangutans), and four genera of gibbons. In 1758, Carolus Linnaeus, relying on second- or third-hand accounts, placed two species in Homo along with H. sapiens: Homo troglodytes ("cave-dwelling man") and the Homo caudatus ("tail-bearing man"). It is not clear to which animals these names refer, as Linnaeus had no specimen to refer to, hence no precise description. Linnaeus named the orangutan Simia satyrus ("satyr monkey"). He placed the three genera Homo, Simia and Lemur in the family of Primates. The troglodytes name was used for the chimpanzee by Blumenbach in 1775 but moved to the genus Simia. The orangutan was moved to the genus Pongo in 1799 by Lacépède. Lacépède Until about 1960 the hominoids were usually divided into two families: humans and their extinct relatives in Hominidae, the other apes in Pongidae.
Pongidae The 1960s saw the application of techniques from molecular biology to primate taxonomy. Goodman used his 1963 immunological study of serum proteins to propose a division of the hominoids into three families, with the non-human great apes in Pongidae and the lesser apes (gibbons) in Hylobatidae. The trichotomy of hominoid families, however, prompted scientists to ask which family speciated first from the common hominoid ancestor.
speciated Within the superfamily Hominoidea, gibbons are the outgroup: this means that the rest of the hominoids are more closely related to each other than any of them are to gibbons. This led to the placing of the other great apes into the family Hominidae along with humans, by demoting the Pongidae to a subfamily; the Hominidae family now contained the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae. Again, the three-way split in Ponginae led scientists to ask which of the three genera is least related to the others.
Ponginae Investigation showed orangutans to be the outgroup, but comparing humans to all three other hominid genera showed that African apes (chimpanzees and gorillas) and humans are more closely related to each other than any of them are to orangutans. This led to the placing of the African apes in the subfamily Homininae, forming another three-way split. This classification was first proposed by M. Goodman in 1974.
orangutan To try to resolve the hominine trichotomy, some authors proposed the division of the subfamily Homininae into the tribes Gorillini (African apes) and Hominini (humans).
orangutan However, DNA comparisons provide convincing evidence that within the subfamily Homininae, gorillas are the outgroup. This suggests that chimpanzees should be in Hominini along with humans. This classification was first proposed (though one rank lower) by M. Goodman et. al. in 1990.

Classification and evolution

As discussed above, hominoid taxonomy has undergone several changes. Current understanding is that the apes diverged from the Old World monkeys about 25 million years ago. The lesser and greater apes split about 18 mya, and the hominid splits happen 14 mya (Pongo), 7 mya (Gorilla), and 6 mya (Homo & Pan)
- Superfamily Hominoidea
- Family Hylobatidae: gibbons
- Genus Hylobates
- Genus Hoolock
- Genus Symphalangus
- Genus Nomascus
- Family Hominidae: great apes
- Genus Pongo: orangutans
- Genus Gorilla: gorillas
- Genus Homo: humans
- Genus Pan: chimpanzees

Legal status

Human beings are the only ape recognized as persons and protected in law by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights [http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html] and by all governments, though to varying degrees. Chimpanzees, Gorillas and Orangutans are not classified as persons, which means that where their interests intersect with that of humans they have no legal status. Many argue that the other apes cognitive capacity in-itself, as well as their close genetic relationship to human beings, dictates an acknowledgement of personhood. The Great Ape Project, founded by Australian philosopher Peter Singer, is campaigning to have the United Nations endorse its Declaration on Great Apes, which would extend to all species of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.

References

# [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3730574.stm 'New' giant ape found in DR Congo] at BBC News Online # # # #

External links

- [http://www.greatapeproject.org/declaration.html Declaration on Great Apes] at the Great Ape Project
-
- ja:ヒト上科

Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and occasional pianist. He is also known for his activism against racial segregation. Mingus's legacy is notable: he is generally ranked among the finest jazz composers and performers ever. Many Mingus albums are easily available; most are highly regarded. Dozens of musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. His songs – though melodic and distinctive – are not often recorded by later musicians, due in part to their challenging nature. Mingus was also influential and creative as a bandleader, recruiting talented and sometimes little-known artists whom he assembled into unconventional and revealing configurations. The musician is nearly as well known for his volatile temperament as for his ambitious music. His refusal to compromise his musical integrity led to many onstage explosions, though it has been argued that his temper grew also from his desire to vent frustration. Ironically, a perfect show could irritate him by closing this outlet. Mingus was prone to depression (possibly manic depression). He tended to have brief periods of extreme creative activity, intermixed with fairly long periods of greatly decreased output. Most of Mingus's music retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop, and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third Stream Jazz and free jazz. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own unique brand of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of jazz. Mingus focused on collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans Jazz parades, he paid particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, Mingus looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. He strived to create unique music to be played by unique musicians. Mingus is often considered the heir apparent to Duke Ellington, for whom he expressed unqualified admiration. In the early 1950s, before attaining commercial recognition as a bandleader, he played a number of live bookings with Charlie Parker, whose compositions and improvisations greatly inspired and influenced Mingus. Mingus considered Parker the greatest genius and innovator in jazz history, but he had a love-hate relationship with Parker's legacy. Mingus blamed the Parker mythology for a derivative crop of pretenders to Parker's throne. He was also conflicted and sometimes disgusted by Parker's self-destructive habits and the romanticized lure of drug addiction they offered to other jazz musicians.

Biography

Early life

Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona, but raised largely in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. His mother allowed only church-related music in their home, but Mingus developed an early love for jazz, especially Ellington's music. He studied trombone, and later cello. Much of the cello technique he learned was applicable to double bass when he took up the instrument in high school. Even in his teen years, Mingus was writing a considerable number of rather advanced pieces; many are similar to Third Stream Jazz. A number of them were recorded in 1960 with conductor Gunther Schuller, and released as Pre-Bird.

Early career

Mingus gained a reputation as something of a bass prodigy, and toured with Louis Armstrong in 1943, then played with Lionel Hampton's band in the late 1940s: Hampton performed and recorded a few of Mingus's pieces. A popular trio with Red Norvo and Tal Farlow in 1950 and 1951 received considerable acclaim. Mingus was briefly a member of Ellington's band in the early 1950s, and Mingus's notorious temper reportedly led to his being the only musician personally fired by Ellington. In 1952 Mingus cofounded Debut Records with Roach, in order to conduct his recording career as he saw fit. After bassist Oscar Pettiford broke his arm playing baseball, Mingus stepped in to replace him at the famed 1953 concert at Massey Hall. He joined Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Max Roach in what was to be the last recorded meeting of the two lead instrumentalists. Unfortunately, Mingus was not then familiar with the bebop repertory, and choose to overdub his, under recorded, bass part after the event. Two 10" albums of the Massey Hall concert-one featured the trio of Powell, Mingus and Roach-were among Debut's earliest releases. Mingus may have objected to the way the major record companies treated musicians, but Gillespie once commented that he did not receive any royalties "for years and years" for his Massey Hall appearance. The records though, are often regarded as among the finest live jazz recordings. In 1955, Mingus was involved in a notorious incident while playing a club date billed as a "reunion" with Parker, Powell, and Roach. Powell, who had suffered from alcoholism and mental illness for years (potentially exacerbated by a severe police beating and electroshock treatments), had to be helped from the stage, unable to play or speak coherently. As Powell's incapacitation became apparent, Parker stood in one spot at a microphone, chanting "Bud Powell...Bud Powell..." as if beseeching Powell's return. Allegedly, Parker continued this incantation for several minutes after Powell's departure, to his own amusement and Mingus's exasperation. Mingus took another mike and announced to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, please don't associate me with any of this. This is not jazz. These are sick people." Roughly a week later, Parker died from the massive complications of years of drug abuse. electroshock

Pithecanthropus Erectus

Mingus had already recorded about ten albums as a bandleader, but 1956 was a breakthrough year, with the release of Pithecanthropus Erectus – arguably his first major work as both a bandleader and composer. Like Ellington, Mingus wrote songs with specific musicians in mind, and his band for Erectus included adventurous, though distinctly blues-oriented musicians, especially saxophonist Jackie McLean and piano player Mal Waldron. The title song is a ten minute tone poem, depicting the rise of man from his hominid roots (Pithecanthropus Erectus) to an eventual downfall. A section of the piece was improvised free of structure or theme. Another album for Atlantic, The Clown (1957) was the first to feature drummer Dannie Richmond. Richmond played with Mingus for the next twenty years, until the bassist's death. He and Mingus formed one of the most impressive and versatile rhythm sections in jazz. Both were accomplished performers seeking to stretch the boundaries of their music while staying true to its roots. When joined by pianist Jaki Byard, they were dubbed "The Almighty Three". [http://www.fantasyjazz.com/catalog/mingus_c_cat.html] The following decade is widely regarded as Mingus's most productive and fertile era. Impressive new compositions and albums appeared at an astonishing rate: Some thirty records in ten years, for a number of record labels (Debut, Candid, Impulse Records and others), a pace perhaps unmatched by any musician or group, excepting Ellington. Mingus often worked with a mid-sized ensemble (around 8-10 members) of rotating musicians known as the Jazz Workshop. Mingus broke new ground, constantly demanding that his musicians be able to explore and develop their perceptions on the spot. Those tapped to join the Workshop (or Sweatshops as they were colorfully dubbed by the musicians) were skilled musicians yearning for a taste of the big time. Mingus shaped these promising novices into a cohesive improvisational machine that in many ways anticipated free jazz. Jazz Workshop members included:
- Pepper Adams
- Jaki Byard
- Eric Dolphy
- Booker Ervin
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk
- Jimmy Knepper
- John Handy
- Jackie McLean
- Charles McPherson
- Horace Parlan Only one misstep occurred in this era: 1962's Town Hall Concert. An ambitious program, it was unfortunately plagued with troubles from its inception. [http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0023/santoro.php] Mingus' vision was finally realized in 1989, see Epitaph (Mingus).

Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus

Mingus witnessed Ornette Coleman's legendary – and controversial – 1960 appearances at New York City's Five Spot jazz club. Though he initially expressed rather mixed feelings for Coleman's innovative music, Mingus was in fact a prime influence of the early free jazz era. He formed a quartet with Richmond, trumpeter Ted Curson and saxophonist Eric Dolphy. This ensemble featured the same instruments as Coleman's quartet, and is often regarded as Mingus rising to the challenging new standard established by Coleman. Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus – the quartet's sole album – is frequently included among the finest in Mingus's catalogue.

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

In 1963, Mingus released The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, a sprawling, multi-section masterpiece, described as "one of the greatest achievements in orchestration by any composer in jazz history." [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040405070932540817&sql=A4f867ur070jd] The album was also unique in that Mingus asked his psychotherapist to provide notes for the record. 1963 also saw the release of an unaccompanied album Mingus Plays Piano. His piano technique – though capable and expressive – was somewhat unrefined when compared to, perhaps, Ahmad Jamal or other contemporary jazz pianists, but the album is still generally well regarded. A few pieces were entirely improvised and drew on classical music as much as jazz, preceding Keith Jarrett's landmark The Köln Concert in that regard by some twelve years. In 1964 Mingus put together one of his best-known groups, a sextet including Dannie Richmond, Jaki Byard, Eric Dolphy, trumpeter Johnny Coles, and tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan. The group was recorded frequently during its short existence; Coles fell ill during a European tour.

Changes

Mingus's pace slowed somewhat in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1974 he formed a quintet with Richmond, pianist Don Pullen, trumpeter Jack Walrath and saxophonist George Adams. They recorded two well-received albums, "Changes One" and "Changes Two". Cumbia and Jazz Fusion in 1976 sought to blend Colombian Cumbia with more traditional jazz forms.

Later career

By the mid-1970s, Mingus was suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease), a wastage of the musculature. His once formidable bass technique suffered, until he could no longer play the instrument. He continued composing, however, and supervised a number of recordings before his death. He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he had traveled for treatment and convalescence, and his ashes were scattered in the Ganges River.

After his death

At the time of his death, Mingus had been recording an album with singer Joni Mitchell, which included vocal versions of some of his songs (including "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat") among Mitchell originals and short, spoken word duets and home recordings of Mitchell and Mingus. To show how important his influence was on the jazz world, this album also featured Jaco Pastorius, a similarly self-destructive bassist. The music of Charles Mingus is currently being performed and reinterpreted by the Mingus Big Band, which plays every Tuesday and Thursday in New York City, and often tours the rest of the United States and Europe. Elvis Costello has written lyrics for a few Mingus pieces and has sung them in performances with the Mingus Big Band. Other tribute bands are also active around the US, including Mingus Amungus in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bass players continue to revere Mingus and his work, as exemplified by Pat Kays, the bassist of third-wave ska band Catch 22, who took the name Mingus as his nickname. A documentary film by Ray Davies entitled Weird Nightmare was released in 1991. It contains footage of Mingus and interviews with artists making Hal Willner's tribute album of the same name, including Elvis Costello, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, and Vernon Reid.

Mingus's temper

As respected as Mingus was for his musical talents, he was often feared for his sometimes violent onstage temper, which was at times directed at members of his band, and other times aimed at the audience. He was physically large – prone to obesity, especially in his later years – and was by all accounts often intimidating and frightening when expressing anger or displeasure. When confronted with a nightclub audience talking and clicking ice in their glasses while he performed, Mingus stopped his band and loudly chastised the audience, stating "Isaac Stern doesn't have to put up with this shit" [http://www.swing2bop.com/articles.html]. He once played a prank on a similar group of nightclub chatterers by silencing his band for several seconds, allowing the loud audience members to be clearly heard, then continuing as the rest of the audience snickered at the oblivious 'soloists'. While onstage at a memorial concert he reportedly attempted to crush his pianist's hands with the instrument's keyboard cover, then punched trombonist Jimmy Knepper in the mouth. Jackie McLean once stabbed Mingus after Mingus punched him, fearing the bassist was about to kill him. Mingus' onstage destruction of an $800 bass prompted British rockers The Animals – avid fans who witnessed Mingus's characteristic explosion at a London show – to emulate the outburst, starting a trend of rampant destruction of musical equipment in 'rock theater' popularized by Jimi Hendrix and The Who, which continues to this day.

Epitaph

"Epitaph" is the master work of Charles Mingus. It is a composition which is more than 4000 measures long, requires two hours to perform and was only completely discovered during the cataloguing process after his death. With the help of a grant from the Ford Foundation, the score and instrumental parts were copied, and the piece itself was premiered by a 30-piece orchestra, conducted by Gunther Schuller. This concert was produced by Mingus' widow, Sue, at Alice Tully Hall on June 3, 1989, ten years after his death.

Samples

:See "Fables of Faubus".

Partial discography

Major works include:
- Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956, Atlantic)
- The Clown (1957, Atlantic)
- Tijuana Moods (1957)
- New Tijuana Moods (1957)
- Blues and Roots (1959, Atlantic)
- Mingus Ah Um (1959, Columbia)
- Mingus Dynasty (1959, Columbia)
- Pre Bird (1960, Mercury)
- Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (1960, Candid)
- Oh Yeah (1962, Atlantic)
- The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963, Impulse)
- Mingus Plays Piano (1963, Impulse)
- Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963, Impulse)
- Let My Children Hear Music (1972, Columbia)
- Changes One (1974, Atlantic)
- Changes Two (1974, Atlantic)
- Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1976, Atlantic)
- Epitaph (1990, Columbia, posthumous) Of these, Mingus Ah Um, Blues and Roots, and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady are arguably his best works.

Cover versions

Considering the number of compositions that Charles Mingus has written, his works have not been recorded as often as comparable jazz composers. Of all his works, his elegant elegy for Lester Young, "Goodbye Porkpie Hat" (from Mingus Ah Um) has probably had the most recordings. Besides recordings from the expected jazz artists, the song has also been recorded by Jeff Beck, and Joni Mitchell sang a version with lyrics that she wrote for the song.

Books on Charles Mingus

- His autobiography, 'Beneath the Underdog', presents a vibrantly boastful and possibly apocryphal account of his early career as a pimp.
- "Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus" by Gene Santoro, Oxford University Press (November 1, 2001), 480 pages, ISBN 0195147111
- "Mingus: A Critical Biography" by Brian Priestley, Da Capo Press (April 1, 1984), 340 pages, ISBN 0306802171
- "Tonight At Noon: A Love Story" by Sue Graham Mingus, Da Capo Press; Reprint edition (April, 2003), 272 pages, ISBN 0306812207. Written by his widow.
- "Charles Mingus - More Than a Fake Book" by Charles Mingus, Hal Leonard Corporation (November 1, 1991), 160 pages, ISBN 0793509009. Includes 2 CDs, photos, discography, music transcriptions, a Mingus comic book promoting his anti-bootlegging project, etc.
- "Mingus/Mingus : Two Memoirs" by Janet Coleman, Al Young, Limelight Editions (August 1, 2004), 164 pages, ISBN 0879101490

Movie Links

- In 1959, Mingus provided the music for John Cassavetes's gritty New York City film, "Shadows."
- "Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog" is a 78 minutes long documentary film on Charles Mingus directed by Don McGlynn and released in 1998.

External links

- [http://www.mingusmingusmingus.com/ The Official Mingus Web site] Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus,Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles Mingus, Charles

Digital signal processor

A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor designed specifically for digital signal processing, generally in real-time.

real-time

- The ability to act as a direct memory access device for the host environment.
- Separate program and data memories (Harvard architecture).
- only parallel processing, no multitasking

Digital signal processing

Digital signal processing can be done on general-purpose microprocessors. Possible optimizations:

Data operators

- Saturation arithmetic, in which operations that produce overflows will accumulate at the maximum (or minimum) values that the register can hold rather than wrapping around (maximum+1 doesn't equal minimum as in many general-purpose CPUs, instead it stays at maximum). Sometimes various sticky bits operation modes are available.
- Multiply-accumulate (MAC) operations, which is good for any kind of matrix operation, such as convolution for filtering, Dot product, or even polynomial evaluation (see Horner scheme, also Fused multiply-add). Single cycle MAC is an assumption in many DSPs, thus a lot of the following properties are derived (esp. Harvard architecture and pipelining).
- Specialized instructions for modulo addressing in [http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CircularBuffer ring buffer]s and bit-reversed addressing mode for FFT cross-referencing.

Program flow

- Deep pipelining. That makes wrong predicted branches costly.
- Branch prediction. Either with a dynamic table or hard coded as zero-overhead looping. To alleviate the branch impact for execution hi-frequent inner-loops, some processors provide this feature. There are two types of operation: single instruction repeating and multi-instruction loops.

History

In 1978, Intel released the 2920 as an "analog signal processor". It had an on-chip ADC/DAC with an internal signal processor, but it didn't have a hardware multiplier and was not successful in the market. In 1979, AMI released the S2811. It was designed as a microprocessor peripheral, and it had to be initialized by the host. The S2811 was likewise not successful in the market. In 1979, Bell Labs introduced the first single chip DSP, the Mac 4 Microprocessor. Then, in 1980 the first stand-alone, complete DSPs -- the NEC µPD7720 and AT&T DSP1 -- were presented at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference '80. Both processors were inspired by the research in PSTN telecommunications. The Altamira DX-1 was another early DSP, utilizing a quad integer pipelines with delayed branches and branch prediction. The first DSP produced by Texas Instruments (TI), the TMS32010 presented in 1983, proved to be an even bigger success, and TI is now the market leader in general purpose DSPs. Another successful design was the Motorola 56000. General pualso have ideas and influences from digital signal processors Extensions such as the MMX extensions in the Intel IA-32 architecture instruction set (ISA). Most DSPs use fixed-point arithmetic, because in real world signal processing, the additional range provided by floating point is not needed, and there is a large speed benefit; however, floating point DSPs are common for scientific and other applications where additional range or precision may be required.

External links

- [http://Microcontroller.com Microcontroller.com]
- [http://www.emlabs.info/ DSP Education and Research] Worldwide list of Universities that have DSP and other Embedded Systems Research Groups
- [http://www.dspengineering.com DSP Engineering Magazine]
- [http://www.bores.com/courses/intro/chips/index.htm Bores D.S. Processor tutorial]
- [http://www.improvsys.com Improv Systems Homepage]
- [http://www.analog.com/processors/ Analog Devices Homepage]
- [http://www.ti.com Texas Instruments Homepage]
- [http://www.dsprelated.com DSP Discussion Groups]
- [http://www.dspguide.com DSP Online Book]
- [http://www.vliw.org DSPs and VLIW]
- [http://www.bdti.com/pocket/pocket.htm Pocket Guide to Processors for DSP] from BDTI(Berkeley Design Technology, INC) Category:Digital signal processing
- Category:Integrated circuits ja:デジタルシグナルプロセッサ

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