Archive:Article of the Week

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The Canterbury Tales	Milton Beychok 03:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC); Meg Ireland 05:06, 7 July 2009 (UTC);		2

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The next article (or draft) of the week will be the article with the most votes at 1 AM UTC on Thursday, 23 July 2009. The honors were done this time by Milton Beychok 01:05, 16 July 2009 (UTC).

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Nominated article	Supporters	Specialist supporters	Score
Milpa agriculture: A form of swidden agriculture that is practiced in Mesoamerica. Traditionally, a "milpa" plot is planted with maize, beans, and squash. [e] The metadata subpage is missing. You can start it via filling in this form or by following the instructions that come up after clicking on the [show] link to the right. Do you see this on PREVIEW? then SAVE! before following a link. To find out more about the use of metadata for the management of Citizendium pages, see CZ:Metadata. You may see this box for one of two reasons. Either: A - New page has been created, or subpages template was added to an existing page B - Cluster move is in progress Click either the A or B link for further instructions. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] A - For a New Cluster use the following directions Subpages format requires a metadata page. Using the following instructions will complete the process of creating this article's subpages. Click the blue "metadata template" link below to create the page. On the edit page that appears paste in the article's title across from "pagename =". You might also fill out the checklist part of the form. Ignore the rest. For background, see Using the Subpages template Don't worry--you'll get the hang of it right away. Remember to hit Save! the "metadata template". However, you can create articles without subpages. Just delete the {{subpages}} template from the top of this page and this prompt will disappear. :) Don't feel obligated to use subpages, it's more important that you write sentences, which you can always do without writing fancy code. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] B - For a Cluster Move use the following directions The metadata template should be moved to the new name as the first step. Please revert this move and start by using the Move Cluster link at the top left of the talk page. The name prior to this move can be found at the following link. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] (CC) Photo: Joey Hipolito Milpa plots are found from Chihuahua to Central America. This one is in Oaxaca, Mexico. Squashes are being grown between the rows of maize. Milpa agriculture is a form of swidden agriculture that is practiced in Mesoamerica. Traditionally, a "milpa" plot (from the Nahuatl word for "corn field") is planted with maize, beans, and squash (known as the Three Sisters) and might include a variety of other plants. These plots are planted for two or three years and then allowed to lie fallow for some years in order to restore the fertility of the soil. Milpa agriculture varies somewhat by region and it has changed in a variety of ways in different areas but it remains an important part of life for millions of people throughout Mesoamerica. Maize and beans Maize and beans, which are the staples of the Mesoamerican diet, complement each other in terms of the health of the fields as well as the health of the people who eat them. Maize requires high levels of nitrogen in the soil to grow properly and quickly depletes the soil if planted alone. Bean plants (genus Phaseolus), on the other hand, are high in nitrogen and their presence extends the life of the maize plot significantly by helping to keep nitrogen levels healthy. One might say that the maize repays the debt it owes to the beans by providing stalks for the bean plants to cling to as they grow. Squashes, generally grown between the rows of maize stalks, also figure into this symbiotic relationship, as they cover the ground in between the rows of corn and help to keep weeds down. Maize and beans also compliment each other nutritionally. If eaten alone, one would need to consume large amounts to fulfill human dietary requirements but when eaten together, they achieve "protein complimentarity." That is to say, a person needs less total food if the two are eaten together. This diet is further supplemented by several varieties of squash and other foods that are planted along side the maize and beans. In many areas, the "Mesoamerican trio" (maize, beans and squash) is complemented by wild or semi-domesticated plants that grow in and around the milpa. (CC) Photo: Lorena Pajares Harvesting beans from a mountainside milpa in Chiapas, Mexico. Planting and harvesting Milpas are traditionally cultivated using the swidden, or "slash and burn" system. The forest is cut, allowed to dry and then burned. The left over ashes are then mixed into the soil as a fertilizer. Maize and beans are planted together in the same hole while squash is planted separately, in between the rows of maize. Other cultigens may be planted in a separate section of the field or scattered among the maize. The fields must be weeded several times throughout out the season. This is backbreaking work, especially in areas where a milpa is likely to be planted on the slope of a mountain several hours walk from home and it is usually done mostly by hand with the help of machetes and hoes. Later in the season, weeding is less needed, as the broad leaves of the squash plants keep unwanted plants to a minimum and the maize grows out of reach of the weeds. Beans and squash are harvested as they ripen. As the maize ripens, a few elotes (or fresh cobs) may be picked to be eaten right away but most of the plants are bent near the top and the cobs are allowed to dry in the field. Once they are dry, they are collected and stored for later use in traditional Mesoamerican foods like tortillas and tamales. The dry stalks are often collected and sold at market as fodder for animals and the husks are frequently saved for use in preparing tamales. The weeds and left over corn stalks from the previous season will be burned to prepare the fields for planting for one or two more years but then they will be left to fallow for as much as ten or more years. This practice has been abandoned in many areas because of the shortage of land that is available to many families. Instead, animal dung or ashes from the hearth at home may be added to those mixed into the soil and many farmers have turned to industrial fertilizers that allow them to cultivate the same plot year after year. The ritual life of the milpa One of many ornate murals in the Zapatista community of Oventic in Chiapas, Mexico. One need not look far to discover the intimate connection between maize and people in Mesoamerican culture. Here, a human head wearing the characteristic Zapatista ski mask appears on every kernel. Several important rituals are performed at key points during the growing season. The timing of these rituals varies by region and altitude due to variations in climate and the length of the growing season but they are invariably tied to significant events in the ritual calendar. Among the Maya, agricultural rituals are performed at the full moon while in central Mexico, each ceremony is associated with one of the eighteen months in the solar calendar and occur at periods of twenty days. Ceremonies are performed at each major stage in the development of the maize, beginning with the planting and concluding with the harvest. Agricultural rituals also vary in form according to local traditions, but common themes are found throughout Mesoamerica. One such theme is the ritual reenactment of the creation of the world by marking the four cardinal directions. Among the K'iche' of highland Guatemala, offerings are made at the four corners of the milpa. The Kekchi plant maize in the center of the field first and then plant in each of the fours directions. In Tepotzlán, the Nahuas place crosses made from pericón at the four corners of the field. And in the Sierra Madre of northern Mexico, the Tarahumara open their work parties by scattering tesguino, or corn beer, to the four directions. Other themes include sacrifices and offerings to indigenous deities or Catholic saints and prayers for rain. Maize also figures prominently in ritual activities that are not directly connected to the cultivation of the milpa. In Amatlán, Nahua villagers say, "Corn is our blood," meaning, "corn defines our way of life" in everything from ethnic identity to every day activities. In fact, the Popul Vuh reveals that the first mothers and fathers of the Maya were actually formed from maize. Maize, and especially the intimate connection between maize and humans, arises again and again in both ancient and modern myths. Modern trends One consequence of the changes in land ownership patterns introduced through Spanish colonial society and some of the agrarian reforms carried out by the modern states in the region is that many families do not own enough land to produce all of the food that they need in a year. Consequently, the practice of fallowing the fields has disappeared or nearly disappeared in many areas. Today, many farmers use chemical fertilizers to increase their fields’ production and engage in other economic activities to earn enough money to provide for their families. Even when farmers have access to enough land to feed their own families, they are often unable to market their surplus. Trade liberalization and market deregulation policies adopted throughout the region in the 1980s and 1990s have meant that maize and other staple crops produced on a very large scale by U.S. corporations are frequently available at lower prices in local markets than the products of local farmers. Thus, many farmers have also converted their fields to other crops. Today, cash crops destined for export to the U.S. include broccoli, snow peas, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, and carnations. Despite the market pressures felt by small scale farmers in Mesoamerica to turn away from traditional agriculture, milpas may hold information that can help improve modern agricultural methods. Monocrop agriculture creates artificial growing conditions that are significantly less biologically diverse than the natural ecosystems that they replace. This results in rapid depletion of the soil, which is generally counteracted by the application of chemical fertilizers that return nutrients to the soil but may have damaging effects in the long-term. Though it is unlikely that the balancing diversity of milpa agriculture can be reproduced on an industrial scale, the indigenous knowledge embedded in its design may provide some guidelines for improving industrial techniques. "By studying [the milpa's] essential features," writes Charles C. Mann, "researchers may be able to smooth the rough ecological edges of conventional agriculture." Notes  (Read more...)	Milton Beychok 00:15, 29 May 2009 (UTC); Arne Eickenberg 14:15, 17 June 2009 (UTC); Peter Schmitt 23:23, 24 June 2009 (UTC);		3
The Canterbury Tales: Collection of stories in verse and prose by Geoffrey Chaucer. [e] The metadata subpage is missing. You can start it via filling in this form or by following the instructions that come up after clicking on the [show] link to the right. Do you see this on PREVIEW? then SAVE! before following a link. To find out more about the use of metadata for the management of Citizendium pages, see CZ:Metadata. You may see this box for one of two reasons. Either: A - New page has been created, or subpages template was added to an existing page B - Cluster move is in progress Click either the A or B link for further instructions. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] A - For a New Cluster use the following directions Subpages format requires a metadata page. Using the following instructions will complete the process of creating this article's subpages. Click the blue "metadata template" link below to create the page. On the edit page that appears paste in the article's title across from "pagename =". You might also fill out the checklist part of the form. Ignore the rest. For background, see Using the Subpages template Don't worry--you'll get the hang of it right away. Remember to hit Save! the "metadata template". However, you can create articles without subpages. Just delete the {{subpages}} template from the top of this page and this prompt will disappear. :) Don't feel obligated to use subpages, it's more important that you write sentences, which you can always do without writing fancy code. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] B - For a Cluster Move use the following directions The metadata template should be moved to the new name as the first step. Please revert this move and start by using the Move Cluster link at the top left of the talk page. The name prior to this move can be found at the following link. [Feel free to recommend improvements to the text or links in this template] Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, two of them in prose, the rest in verse. The tales, some of which are originals and others not, are contained inside a frame tale and told by a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The Canterbury Tales are remarkable for having been written in the vernacular, Middle English, rather than the language of courtiers (French) or of the church (Latin). From the earliest days of their appearance to the present moment, they have been recognized as a foundational pillar of English literature. The Oxford English Dictionary says that "in later times" the phrase "Canterbury Tale" is "often taken as" being "a long tedious story, a fable, a cock-and-bull story". Poetic structure Much of The Canterbury Tales is in iambic pentameters with an AABB rhyming scheme, but a few tales were written in other forms, among them the ballad stanza. The individual tales The themes of the tales vary, and include topics such as courtly love, treachery, and avarice. The genres also vary, and include romance, Breton lai, sermon, beast fable, and fabliau. The characters, introduced in the General Prologue of the book, tell tales of great cultural relevance. The Tales include: The General Prologue The Knight's Tale The Miller's Prologue and Tale The Reeve's Prologue and Tale The Cook's Prologue and Tale The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale The Friar's Prologue and Tale The Summoner's Prologue and Tale The Clerk's Prologue and Tale The Merchant's Prologue and Tale The Squire's Prologue and Tale The Franklin's Prologue and Tale The Physician's Tale The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale The Shipman's Tale The Prioress' Prologue and Tale Chaucer's Tale of Sir Topas The Tale of Melibee The Monk's Prologue and Tale The Nun's Priest's Prologue and Tale The Second Nun's Prologue and Tale The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and Tale The Manciple's Prologue and Tale The Parson's Prologue and Tale Chaucer's Retraction Some of the tales are serious and others humorous; however, all are very precise in describing the traits and faults of human nature. Antifraternal and anti-clerical themes abound, along with instances of courtly romance, fabliaux, and the traditional ballad. The work is incomplete, at least if we take at face value the claim in the General Prologue that each character would tell four tales, two on the way to Canterbury and two on the return journey. This would have meant a possible one hundred and twenty tales which would have dwarfed the twenty-six tales actually written. The missing tales inspired many, some quite soon after Chaucer's death in 1400, to write their own additional tales, among them the spurious Plowman's Tale and the Tale of Beryn, a continuation of the narrative which includes the pilgrims' eventual arrival in Canterbury itself as well as the beginning of the return journey. From the 14th century to the present, readers have found political overtones within the tales, particularly as Chaucer himself was a significant courtier and political figure at the time, close to the corridors of power. Chaucer's wife Philippa (de) Roet was the sister of John of Gaunt's favourite mistress (afterwards third wife), Katherine Swynford, and Chaucer had close ties with the so-called Lollard Knights. There are many hints at contemporary events, although few are proven, and the theme of marriage common in the tales is presumed to allude to several different marriages, most often those of John of Gaunt. In addition to Chaucer himself, Harry Bailly of the Tabard Inn was a real person and the Cook has been identified as quite likely to be Roger Knight de Ware, a contemporary London, United Kingdom cook. The complete work The work was probably begun in the 1380s with Chaucer stopping work at some point in the late 1390s prior to his death in 1400. It was not written down fully conceived: it seems to have had many revisions with the addition of new tales at various times. The plan for one hundred and twenty tales is from the general prologue. It is announced by Harry Bailly, the host, that there will be four tales each. This is not necessarily the opinion of Chaucer himself, who appears as the only character to tell more than one tale. It has been suggested that the unfinished state was deliberate on Chaucer's part. The structure of The Canterbury Tales is a frame narrative and easy to find in other contemporary works, such as The Book of Good Love by Juan Ruiz and Boccaccio's Decameron, which may have been one of Chaucer's main sources of inspiration. Chaucer indeed adapted several of Boccaccio's stories to put in the mouths of his own pilgrims, but what sets Chaucer's work apart from his contemporaries' is his characters. Compared to Boccaccio's main characters - seven women and three men, all young, fresh and well-to-do, and given Classical names - the characters in Chaucer are of extremely varied stock, including representatives of most of the branches of the middle classes at that time. Not only are the participants very different, but they tell very different types of tales, with their personalities showing through both in their choices of tales and in the way they tell them. The idea of a pilgrimage appears to have been mainly a useful device to get such a diverse collection of people together for literary purposes. The Monk would probably not be allowed to undertake the pilgrimage and some of the other characters would be unlikely ever to want to attend. Also all of the pilgrims ride horses, there is no suggestion of them suffering for their religion. None of the popular shrines along the way are visited and there is no suggestion that anyone attends mass, so that it seems much more like a tourist's jaunt. Chaucer does not pay that much attention to the progress of the trip. He hints that the tales take several days but he does not detail any overnight stays. Although the journey could be done in one day this speed would make telling tales difficult and three to four days was the usual duration for such pilgrimages. The 18th of April is mentioned in the tales and Walter William Skeat, a 19th-century editor, determined 17 April 1387 as the probable first day of the tales. Scholars divide the tales into ten fragments. The tales that make up a fragment are directly connected, usually with one character speaking to and handing over to another character, but there is no connection between most of the other fragments. This means that there are several possible permutations for the order of the fragments and consequently the tales themselves. The above listing is perhaps the most common in modern times, with the fragments numbered I-X, but an alternative order lists them A-G, with the tales from the Physician's until the Nun's Priest's placed before the Wife of Bath's. The exception to the independence between fragments are the last two. The Manciple's tale is the last tale in IX but fragment X starts with the Parson's prologue by saying that the Manciple had finished his tale. The reason that they are kept as two different fragments is that the Manciple starts his short tale in the morning but the Parson's tale is told at four in the afternoon. It is assumed that Chaucer would have amended his manuscript or inserted more tales to fill the time. Two early manuscripts of the tale are the Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript and the Ellesmere manuscript. Altogether, the Tales survives in eighty-four manuscripts and four printed editions dating from before 1500. The Canterbury Tales Project is transcribing the whole text of all these versions, comparing them to attempt to uncover how they are related, and publishing transcripts, images and analyses of all this: see further the links in References, below. Significance Like Dante, Chaucer's greatest contribution that this work made to English literature was in popularising the literary use of the vernacular language, English (rather than French or Latin). Some of Chaucer's contemporaries, such as John Gower, also wrote some of their literary output in English, and yet only Chaucer staked his all on English, while at the same time taking inspiration from continental writers in the vernacular, such as Dante and Boccaccio. Within the tradition of English verse, Chaucer's output helped to assure the predominance of continental verse forms, in particular rhymed verse, over the traditional alliterative form. The pilgrims' route and real locations The pilgrims would probably have travelled along Watling Street, a route ancient even in Chaucer's time. Used by the Celts, paved by the Romans and named by the Anglo-Saxons, the stretch from London to Canterbury and then Dover is now the A2 road. The City of Canterbury has a museum dedicated to The Canterbury Tales". The postulated return journey has intrigued many and continuations have been written as well as tales written for the characters who are mentioned but not given a chance to speak. The Tale of Beryn is a story by an anonymous author within a 15th-century manuscript of the work. The tales are rearranged and there are some interludes in Canterbury, which they had finally reached, and Beryn is the first tale on the return journey, told by the Merchant. John Lydgate's Siege of Thebes is also a depiction of the return journey but the tales themselves are actually prequels to the tale of classical origin told by the Knight in Chaucer's work. Miscellanea The title of the work has become an everyday phrase in the language and has been variously adapted and adopted. Recently an animated version of some of the tales has been produced for British television. As well as a version with Modern English dialogue, there were versions in the original Middle English and Welsh. Evolutionist Richard Dawkins used The Canterbury Tales as a structure for his 2004 book about evolution - The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution. His animal pilgrims are on their way to find the common ancestor, each telling a tale about evolution. In the U.S., The Canterbury Tales has been expurgated since its first appearance; it was subjected to revisions as late as 1928. In 1995, the book was challenged at Eureka Illinois High School for its lewd content and banned. Idries Shah in The Sufis wrote of evidence that the work was based on Fariduddin Attar's 12th-century work The Parliament Of The Birds citing various similarities between the two works. Like Attar, Chaucer had thirty participants in his pilgrimage and both works are an allegory of inner development. "The Pardoner's Tale" occurs in Attar's work, whilst the pear-tree story is found in Book IV of the Mathnawi by the 13th century author Rumi. Stage and film adaptations and allusions 1944 Powell and Pressburger, A Canterbury Tale (opening scenes) 1972 Pasolini, The Canterbury Tales 2004, BBC [1] 2005, Royal Shakespeare Company 2001, "A Knight's Tale" Notes  (Read more...)	Milton Beychok 03:35, 7 July 2009 (UTC); Meg Ireland 05:06, 7 July 2009 (UTC)		2

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(CC) Photo: Joey Hipolito
Milpa plots are found from Chihuahua to Central America. This one is in Oaxaca, Mexico. Squashes are being grown between the rows of maize.

Milpa agriculture is a form of swidden agriculture that is practiced in Mesoamerica. Traditionally, a "milpa" plot (from the Nahuatl word for "corn field") is planted with maize, beans, and squash (known as the Three Sisters) and might include a variety of other plants. These plots are planted for two or three years and then allowed to lie fallow for some years in order to restore the fertility of the soil. Milpa agriculture varies somewhat by region and it has changed in a variety of ways in different areas but it remains an important part of life for millions of people throughout Mesoamerica.

Maize and beans

Maize and beans, which are the staples of the Mesoamerican diet, complement each other in terms of the health of the fields as well as the health of the people who eat them. Maize requires high levels of nitrogen in the soil to grow properly and quickly depletes the soil if planted alone. Bean plants (genus Phaseolus), on the other hand, are high in nitrogen and their presence extends the life of the maize plot significantly by helping to keep nitrogen levels healthy. One might say that the maize repays the debt it owes to the beans by providing stalks for the bean plants to cling to as they grow. Squashes, generally grown between the rows of maize stalks, also figure into this symbiotic relationship, as they cover the ground in between the rows of corn and help to keep weeds down.

Maize and beans also compliment each other nutritionally. If eaten alone, one would need to consume large amounts to fulfill human dietary requirements but when eaten together, they achieve "protein complimentarity." That is to say, a person needs less total food if the two are eaten together. This diet is further supplemented by several varieties of squash and other foods that are planted along side the maize and beans. In many areas, the "Mesoamerican trio" (maize, beans and squash) is complemented by wild or semi-domesticated plants that grow in and around the milpa.

(CC) Photo: Lorena Pajares
Harvesting beans from a mountainside milpa in Chiapas, Mexico.

Planting and harvesting

Milpas are traditionally cultivated using the swidden, or "slash and burn" system. The forest is cut, allowed to dry and then burned. The left over ashes are then mixed into the soil as a fertilizer. Maize and beans are planted together in the same hole while squash is planted separately, in between the rows of maize. Other cultigens may be planted in a separate section of the field or scattered among the maize.

The fields must be weeded several times throughout out the season. This is backbreaking work, especially in areas where a milpa is likely to be planted on the slope of a mountain several hours walk from home and it is usually done mostly by hand with the help of machetes and hoes. Later in the season, weeding is less needed, as the broad leaves of the squash plants keep unwanted plants to a minimum and the maize grows out of reach of the weeds.

Beans and squash are harvested as they ripen. As the maize ripens, a few elotes (or fresh cobs) may be picked to be eaten right away but most of the plants are bent near the top and the cobs are allowed to dry in the field. Once they are dry, they are collected and stored for later use in traditional Mesoamerican foods like tortillas and tamales. The dry stalks are often collected and sold at market as fodder for animals and the husks are frequently saved for use in preparing tamales.

The weeds and left over corn stalks from the previous season will be burned to prepare the fields for planting for one or two more years but then they will be left to fallow for as much as ten or more years. This practice has been abandoned in many areas because of the shortage of land that is available to many families. Instead, animal dung or ashes from the hearth at home may be added to those mixed into the soil and many farmers have turned to industrial fertilizers that allow them to cultivate the same plot year after year.

The ritual life of the milpa

One of many ornate murals in the Zapatista community of Oventic in Chiapas, Mexico. One need not look far to discover the intimate connection between maize and people in Mesoamerican culture. Here, a human head wearing the characteristic Zapatista ski mask appears on every kernel.

Several important rituals are performed at key points during the growing season. The timing of these rituals varies by region and altitude due to variations in climate and the length of the growing season but they are invariably tied to significant events in the ritual calendar. Among the Maya, agricultural rituals are performed at the full moon while in central Mexico, each ceremony is associated with one of the eighteen months in the solar calendar and occur at periods of twenty days. Ceremonies are performed at each major stage in the development of the maize, beginning with the planting and concluding with the harvest.

Agricultural rituals also vary in form according to local traditions, but common themes are found throughout Mesoamerica. One such theme is the ritual reenactment of the creation of the world by marking the four cardinal directions. Among the K'iche' of highland Guatemala, offerings are made at the four corners of the milpa. The Kekchi plant maize in the center of the field first and then plant in each of the fours directions. In Tepotzlán, the Nahuas place crosses made from pericón at the four corners of the field. And in the Sierra Madre of northern Mexico, the Tarahumara open their work parties by scattering tesguino, or corn beer, to the four directions. Other themes include sacrifices and offerings to indigenous deities or Catholic saints and prayers for rain.

Maize also figures prominently in ritual activities that are not directly connected to the cultivation of the milpa. In Amatlán, Nahua villagers say, "Corn is our blood," meaning, "corn defines our way of life" in everything from ethnic identity to every day activities. In fact, the Popul Vuh reveals that the first mothers and fathers of the Maya were actually formed from maize. Maize, and especially the intimate connection between maize and humans, arises again and again in both ancient and modern myths.

Modern trends

One consequence of the changes in land ownership patterns introduced through Spanish colonial society and some of the agrarian reforms carried out by the modern states in the region is that many families do not own enough land to produce all of the food that they need in a year. Consequently, the practice of fallowing the fields has disappeared or nearly disappeared in many areas. Today, many farmers use chemical fertilizers to increase their fields’ production and engage in other economic activities to earn enough money to provide for their families.

Even when farmers have access to enough land to feed their own families, they are often unable to market their surplus. Trade liberalization and market deregulation policies adopted throughout the region in the 1980s and 1990s have meant that maize and other staple crops produced on a very large scale by U.S. corporations are frequently available at lower prices in local markets than the products of local farmers. Thus, many farmers have also converted their fields to other crops. Today, cash crops destined for export to the U.S. include broccoli, snow peas, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, and carnations.

Despite the market pressures felt by small scale farmers in Mesoamerica to turn away from traditional agriculture, milpas may hold information that can help improve modern agricultural methods. Monocrop agriculture creates artificial growing conditions that are significantly less biologically diverse than the natural ecosystems that they replace. This results in rapid depletion of the soil, which is generally counteracted by the application of chemical fertilizers that return nutrients to the soil but may have damaging effects in the long-term. Though it is unlikely that the balancing diversity of milpa agriculture can be reproduced on an industrial scale, the indigenous knowledge embedded in its design may provide some guidelines for improving industrial techniques. "By studying [the milpa's] essential features," writes Charles C. Mann, "researchers may be able to smooth the rough ecological edges of conventional agriculture."

Notes

(Read more...)

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•  Bifrenaria: A genus of orchids formed by circa twenty species of South America, some widely cultivated because of their large and colored flowers; divided in two distinct groups, one with large flowers and short inflorescences and the other with small flowers and long inflorescences. ^[e] (June 11)
•  Halobacterium NRC-1: A microorganism from the Archaea kingdom perfectly suited for life in highly saline environments giving biologists an ideal specimen for genetic studies. ^[e] (June 4)
•  Animal: A multicellular organism that feeds on other organisms, and is distinguished from plants, fungi, and unicellular organisms. ^[e] (May 28)
•  Coal: a combustible, black rock formed after millions of years of heat and pressure were applied to the decayed remains of plants and organic matter in what were then swamps. ^[e] (May 21)
•  Johannes Diderik van der Waals: (1837 – 1923) Dutch scientist, proposed the van der Waals equation of state for gases. ^[e] (May 7)
•  Scientific method: The concept of systematic inquiry based on hypotheses and their testing in light of empirical evidence. ^[e] (Apr 14)
•  Korematsu v. United States: A U.S. Supreme Court case, in which the internment of Japanese-Americans was deemed constitutional due to military necessity ^[e] (Apr 7)
•  Orchid: Any plant classified under Orchidaceae, one of the largest plant families and the largest among Monocotyledons. ^[e] (Mar 31)
•  Oliver Cromwell: (1599-1658) English soldier, statesman, and leader of the Puritan revolution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides". ^[e] (Mar 24)
•  Wisconsin v. Yoder: 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision in which it was held that the constitutional rights of the Amish, under the "free exercise of religion" clause, were violated by the state's compulsory school attendance law. ^[e] (Mar 17)
•  Conventional coal-fired power plant: power plant that burns coal in a steam generator to produce high pressure steam, which goes to steam turbines that generate electricity. ^[e] (Mar 10)
•  Battle of the Ia Drang: First divisional-scale battle involving helicopter-borne air assault troops, with U.S. forces against those of North Vietnam ^[e] (Mar 3)
•  Ether (physics): Medium that can carry electromagnetic waves (obsolete) ^[e] (Feb 24)
•  Large-scale trickle filters: One of the processes by which biodegradable substances in wastewaters are biochemically oxidized. ^[e] (11 Feb)
•  Homeopathy: System of alternative medicine involving administration of highly diluted substances with the intention to stimulate the body's natural healing processes, not considered proven by mainstream science. ^[e] (28 Jan)
•  Microeconomics: A branch of economics that deals with transactions between suppliers and consumers, acting individually or in groups. ^[e] (14 Jan)
•  Speech Recognition: The ability to recognize and understand human speech, especially when done by computers. ^[e] (26 Nov)
•  Mashup: A data visualization created by combining data with multiple computer applications. ^[e] (19 Nov)
•  Tux: The name of the penguin, official logo and cartoon mascot for the Linux computer operating system. ^[e] (14 Oct)
•  Hydrogen bond: A non-covalent and non-ionic chemical bond involving a hydrogen atom and either Fluorine, Nitrogen, or Oxygen. ^[e] (7 Oct)
•  Lead: Chemical element number 82, a corrosion-resistant, dense, ductile heavy metal known to cause neurological problems. ^[e] (1 Sept)
•  DNA: A macromolecule — chemically, a nucleic acid — that stores genetic information. ^[e] (8 July)
•  Augustin-Louis_Cauchy: (1789 – 1857) prominent French mathematician, one of the pioneers of rigor in mathematics and complex analysis. ^[e] (1 July)
•  Vasco da Gama: Portuguese explorer who established a sea route from Europe to India. ^[e] (24 June)
•  Phosphorus: Chemical element (Z=15) vital to life and widely used in fertilizers, detergents and pesticides. ^[e] (17 June)
•  Crystal Palace: A glass and iron structure built to house the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London, in 1851. It was moved and rebuilt on Sydenham Hill in 1854 but was destroyed by fire in 1936. ^[e] (10 June)
•  Gross Domestic Product: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a total of the outputs recorded in a country’s national income accounts. ^[e] (3 June)
•  RNA interference: Process that inhibits the flow of genetic information to protein synthesis. ^[e] (27 May)
•  Latino history: History of Hispanics in the U.S., especially those of Mexican origins. ^[e] (20 May)
•  Navy Grog: Rum-based drink. ^[e] (13 May)
•  Systems biology: The study of biological systems as a whole. ^[e] (6 May)
•  Steroid: Hormone group that controls metabolism, catabolism, growth, electrolyte balance and sexual characteristics. ^[e] (22 Apr)
•  Lebanon: a country in the Middle East. It borders Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Its official language is Arabic, although French is widely spoken. The capital and largest city of Lebanon is Beirut. ^[e] (15 Apr)
•  Wheat: Grass crop grown worldwide and used in making flour and fermentation for alcohol production. ^[e] (7 Apr)
•  Benjamin Franklin: 1706-1790, American statesman and scientist, based in Philadelphia. ^[e] (1 Apr)
•  Coherer: A type of radio detector, popular in the earliest days of radio development, beginning around 1890. ^[e] (25 Mar)
•  U.S. Civil War: {1861-65) war by the U.S. to prevent 11 of its states (the Confederate States of America) from seceding; won by the U.S. after the death of 600,000 people and the abolishment of slavery. ^[e] (18 Mar)
•  Life: Living systems, of which biologists seek the commonalities distinguishing them from non-living systems. ^[e] (11 Mar)
•  Petroleum refining processes: Add brief definition or description (4 Mar)
•  Shirley Chisholm: Add brief definition or description (20 Feb)
•  Telephone Newspaper: Add brief definition or description (4 Feb)
•  Wristwatch: Add brief definition or description (28 Jan)
•  Korean War of 1592-1598: Add brief definition or description (21 Jan)
•  Andrew Carnegie: Add brief definition or description (11 January 2008)
• Bowling: Add brief definition or description (31 December 2007)
•  Architecture: Add brief definition or description (December 6)
•  Civil society: Add brief definition or description November 29
•  Joan of Arc: Add brief definition or description (November 22)
•  Chemistry: Add brief definition or description (November 15)
•  Albert Gallatin: Add brief definition or description (November 8)
•  Prime number: Add brief definition or description (November 1)
•  Tennis: Add brief definition or description (October 25)
•  Rottweiler: Add brief definition or description (October 18)
•  Theodor Lohmann: Add brief definition or description (October 9)
•  William Shakespeare: Add brief definition or description (October 2)
•  Edward I: Add brief definition or description (September 25)
•  El Tío: Add brief definition or description (September 18)
•  Scotland Yard: Add brief definition or description (September 11)
•  Kilt: Add brief definition or description (September 4)
•  U.S. Electoral College: Add brief definition or description (August 28)
•  Butler: Add brief definition or description (August 21)
•  Tony Blair: Add brief definition or description (August 14)
•  Northwest Passage: Add brief definition or description (August 7)
•  Literature: Add brief definition or description (July 31)
•  Biology: Add brief definition or description (July 25)

Rules and Procedure

Rules

• The article's status must be 0 or 1, i.e., only "Advanced Articles" may be nominated.
• Any Citizen may nominate an article.
• No Citizen may have nominated more than one article listed under "current nominees" at a time.
• The article's nominator is indicated simply by the first name in the list of votes (see below).
• At least for now--while the project is still small--you may nominate and vote for articles of which you are a main author.
• An article can be Article of the Week only once every six months. Nominated articles that have won top honors should be removed from the list.
• Comments on nominations should be made on the article's talk page.
• The list of nominees should be kept below 20, or thereabouts. Articles with very few supporters and which have not gained any new supporters in the last two weeks or so may be deleted to make room for new nominees.
• Any editor may entirely cancel the nomination of any unapproved article in his or her area of expertise if, for example, it contains obvious and embarrassing problems.

Voting

• To vote, add your name and date in the Supporters column next to an article title, after other supporters for that article, by signing <br />~~~~. (The date is necessary so that we can determine when the last vote was added.) Your vote is alloted a score of 1.
• Add your name in the Specialist supporters column only if you are an editor who is an expert about the topic in question. Your vote is alloted a score of 1 for articles which you created and a score of 2 for articles which you did not create.
• You may vote for as many articles as you wish, and each vote counts separately, but you can only nominate one at a time; see above. You could, theoretically, vote for every nominated article on the page, but this would be pointless.

Ranking

• The list of articles is sorted by number of votes first, then alphabetically.
• Admins should make sure that the votes are correctly tallied, but anyone may do this. Note that "Specialist Votes" are worth 3 points.

Updating

• Each Thursday, one of the admins listed below should move the winning article to the Current Winner section of this page, announces the winner on Citizendium-L and updates the "previous winning articles" section accordingly.
• The winning article will be the article at the top of the list (ie the one with the most votes).
• In the event of two or more having the same number of votes :
  • The article with the most specialist supporters is used. Should this fail to produce a winner, the article appearing first by English alphabetical order is used.
    
  • The remaining winning articles are guaranteed this position in the following weeks, again in alphabetical order. No further voting would take place on these, which remain at the top of the table with notices to that effect. Further nominations and voting take place to determine future winning articles for the following weeks.

Administrators

These are people who have volunteered to run this program. Their duties are (1) to ensure that this page remains "clean," e.g., as a given article garners more votes, its tally is accurately represented and it moves up the list, and (2) to place the winning article on the front page on a weekly basis. To become an administrator, you need not apply anywhere. Simply add your name below. Administrator duties are open to editors and authors alike.

• Carl Jantzen
• Todd Coles
• David E. Volk
• Milton Beychok

See Also

• CZ:New Draft of the Week
• CZ:Markup tags for partial transclusion of selected text in an article
• CZ:Monthly Write-a-Thon