Gates, Bill (1955-...), is a cofounder and the chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation. From 1975 until 2000, he also served as Microsoft's chief executive officer. Microsoft is the world's largest developer and publisher of software programs for personal computers.
William Henry Gates was born in Seattle. He set up his first software company at age 15 with a schoolmate named Paul Allen. In 1975, he and Allen began to design programs for personal computers, which had just entered the marketplace. The two founded Microsoft that year. In 1980, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) chose Microsoft to develop the operating system for its first personal computer, the PC. An operating system is a special type of program that contains instructions for the operation of the computer. Gates devised the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) for IBM. Millions of copies of m S-DOS were sold for use in IBM and IBM-compatible pC's.
Microsoft continued to grow under Gates's guidance. In 1985, the company introduced the first of a series of PC programs called Windows. These programs enable users to perform multiple tasks through "windows" on the computer screen and to issue commands by pointing at onscreen symbols rather than by typing instructions. Microsoft has sold millions of copies of Windows.
Microsoft Corporation is the world's largest developer and publisher of software programs for personal computers. In addition, Microsoft operates online services and a cable-television news channel. The company also produces software for the operation of electronic devices other than computers.
Microsoft began in 1975 as an informal business partnership between former schoolmates Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The two men adapted the programming language BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) for use with the earliest home computer, the MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) Altair 8800. They were soon writing programs for other manufacturers' computers. In 1980, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) chose Microsoft to develop the operating system for its first personal computer, the PC. An operating system is software that contains instructions for all of a computer's functions. Millions of copies of the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) were sold for use in IBM computers and IBM-compatible PC's.
In 1985, Microsoft introduced the first of a series of operating systems called Windows. These programs employ a graphical user interface (GUI), which allows people to issue commands by pointing to on-screen symbols and clicking a mouse rather than by typing instructions. The program also enables people to perform multiple tasks, each in a different "window" on the computer screen. Microsoft has sold millions of copies of Windows. The company also produces other software products for business and consumer use. These products include Excel, a spreadsheet program; FoxPro, a database-management program; and Word, a word-processing program.
In 1998, the United States Department of Justice, along with 20 state attorneys general and the corporation counsel for the District of Columbia, filed an antitrust suit against Microsoft. Later that year, one of the states, South Carolina, withdrew from the suit. The lawsuit charged that the company used unfair practices to destroy its competitors. Following a 1999 trial, a federal district court judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, found that the Microsoft Corporation is a monopoly that has harmed competitors and consumers. He appointed a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals to help the company and the government negotiate a settlement. In April 2000, settlement talks broke down, and Jackson found Microsoft guilty of violating U.S. antitrust laws. In June 2000, Jackson ordered the corporation to be split into two different companies--one that would produce only operating systems and another that would produce and manage other products and services. Microsoft officials
GREECE
Greece is a small country where Western civilization started about 2,500 years ago. In those days, Greece controlled much of the land bordering the Mediterranean and Black seas. Athens is the capital and the largest city of Greece. In Athens and other parts of Greece, magnificent ruins stand as monuments to the nation's glorious past.
About one-fourth of the workers in Greece earn their living by farming, and agriculture is an important economic activity. But mountains cover most of Greece, and the land is rocky with little fertile soil. A Greek legend tells that God sifted the earth through a strainer while making the world. He made one country after another with the good soil that sifted through, and threw away the stones left in the strainer. According to the legend, these stones became Greece.
No part of Greece is more than 85 miles (137 kilometers) from the sea. The Greeks have always been seafaring people. About a fifth of Greece consists of islands. The mainland makes up the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, extending into the Mediterranean Sea. Many ancient Greek legends, including those about Ulysses and Jason, center on sea voyages. Today, Greece has one of the largest merchant fleets in the world.
The Greeks came under the control of invaders for more than 2,000 years. They lost their independence to the Macedonians in 338 B.C. The Greeks did not regain their independence until A.D. 1829, from the Ottoman Empire. Since then, Greece has had many serious political problems, largely because of weak or undemocratic governments.
In ancient times, the Greeks established the traditions of justice and individual freedom that are basic to democracy. Their arts, philosophy, and science became foundations of Western thought and culture.
World War I began in 1914. Venizelos urged that Greece fight with the Allies against Germany and its partners. But King Constantine, whose wife was a sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, kept Greece neutral. Venizelos started a revolutionary movement. It was supported by the Allies, who had established a military base at Thessaloniki. In 1917, Constantine was forced to give the throne to his son, Alexander I. Greece entered the war on the side of the Allies on July 2, 1917.
Thousands of Greek troops joined the British, French, and Serbians at their Thessaloniki base, from which they attacked the Bulgarians and Turks. In September 1918, the Greeks and other Allied forces moved north. They defeated the Bulgarians, who signed an armistice at Thessaloniki. The entire war ended on November 11.
The peace treaties that followed World War I gave Greece most of the territories it had long sought. From the Ottoman Empire, Greece got eastern Thrace; some islands in the Aegean Sea, including two at the entrance to the Dardanelles; and temporary control of the Smyrna (now Izmir) region in Asia Minor. The Greeks gained western Thrace from Bulgaria.
King Alexander died in 1920, and Constantine I returned to the throne. In 1921, Constantine renewed the war against the Ottoman Empire by sending Greek forces into Asia Minor. The Ottomans dealt the Greeks a crushing defeat in 1922, and a military revolt forced Constantine from the throne. His son, George II, replaced him. A revolution ended the Ottoman Empire in 1922. It became the Republic of Turkey the next year.
In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, Greece returned the Turkish territories it had gained after World War I. The treaty also provided for ending the tensions produced by Turkish rule over Greeks. It required over 1,250,000 Greeks in Turkey to move to Greece and 400,000 Turks in Greece to move to Turkey. After the Greek migration, the only Greeks under foreign rule were in northern Epirus in Albania, British-held Cyprus, and the Italian-held Dodecanese Islands.
WORLD
World is the planet earth viewed especially as the home of human beings and other living things. The earth is just one of countless heavenly bodies in the universe. But it is the only one known to support life.
From the very beginning of their life on the earth, people have had to adapt to conditions in the world to survive. The earliest human beings lived by hunting and gathering wild plants. They made clothing from animal hides and furs and used branches and other natural materials to build shelters. About 10,000 years ago, some people began to raise plants and animals after food became scarce. People who farmed could settle in one place and produce enough food to feed many others. Villages grew up, and people developed methods of living in large groups. New occupations and forms of government became necessary. Over the years, people created more advanced technology and increasingly complicated forms of social life. They built great cities, developed civilizations, and found ways to control many powerful natural forces.
The world's surface consists of water and land. Air surrounds the surface and extends to outer space. Water--chiefly the great oceans--covers about 70 percent of the world's surface. All living things must have water to live, just as they must have air. People also use water for irrigation, industry, power, and transportation. In addition, the oceans, lakes, and rivers provide fish and other foods.
The oceans separate huge land masses called continents. Most of the world's countries lie on the continents. Others are on islands. Each country has its own political and economic systems. However, countries cooperate with one another in many ways. For example, they make trade agreements and sign treaties designed to reduce the likelihood of war.
The physical features of a country strongly influence where the people of that country live. People can most easily grow food on plains or in river valleys, where the soil is rich and deep. Mountainous regions generally are not suitable for crop farming because the soil is thin and easily washed away by rainfall. Many of the world's biggest cities began as important trading centers on seacoasts, lakeshores, and riverbanks. Thus, the majority of the world's people live on flat, fertile plains and in large cities that border major water transportation routes.
About 6 billion people live in the world. They are distributed unevenly over the land. Many areas are heavily populated. Other areas have no people at all. The population is increasing far more rapidly in some countries than in others. World is the planet earth viewed especially as the home of human beings and other living things. The earth is just one of countless heavenly bodies in the universe. But it is the only one known to support life.
About 6 billion people live in the world. They are distributed unevenly over the land. Many areas are heavily populated. Other areas have no people at all. The population is increasing far more rapidly in some countries than in others. All the world's people belong to the same species, Homo sapiens, which means they have a common ancestry. But many groups of people have lived apart for such a long time that they have developed certain physical variations.
Nations of the world
The world has 192 independent countries and about 40 dependencies. An independent country controls its own affairs. Dependencies are controlled in some way by independent countries. In most cases, an independent country is responsible for the dependency's foreign relations and
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Encyclopedia is a collection of information about people, places, events, and things. It may deal with all areas of knowledge or it may confine itself to just one area. A general encyclopedia, such as World Book, includes information on topics in every field of knowledge. Specialized encyclopedias provide more detailed and technical information on specific areas of knowledge, such as art, medicine, or the social sciences.
In ancient times, scholars found that the information they needed was scattered in manuscripts and scrolls in various parts of the world. Some scholars made their own reference works by copying long quotations from the works of other authors. Others copied items of information from a variety of sources. These ancient reference works were the ancestors of the encyclopedia. But they differ from encyclopedias in many ways. Early scholars presented information in any order they chose, and they had few ways to check its accuracy. In addition, they wrote only for themselves or other scholars. Encyclopedia editors, on the other hand, carefully organize their material and demand accuracy. They also present information to a large, diverse audience.
The word encyclopedia comes from the Greek words enkyklios paideia, meaning general or well- rounded education. The word did not come into common use until the 1700's.
A well-planned general encyclopedia presents facts about humanity; about beliefs, ideas, and achievements; about the world people live in; and about the universe of which they are a part. It presents these facts without prejudice, using language that is easy to understand.
An encyclopedia is concerned with the who, what, when, where, how, and why of things. For example, an article on radar tells what radar is and who developed it, as well as when and where. It also describes how radar operates and why it is important in everyday life.
No one person can create a general encyclopedia. Such an enterprise calls for the combined talents of scholars and specialists, of editors and educators, of researchers and librarians, and of artists, mapmakers, and production specialists. It also calls for a large investment of money by the publisher. To keep an encyclopedia abreast of events in all fields of knowledge, the publisher must revise it on a regular basis.
IMMIGRATION
Immigration is the act of coming to a foreign country to live. The act of leaving one's country to settle in another is called emigration. Immigrants who flee their country because of persecution, war, or such disasters as famines or epidemics are known as refugees or displaced persons (DP's).
Most people find it very hard to pull up roots in their native land and move to a strange country. But throughout history, countless millions of people have done so. The heaviest immigration worldwide took place from the early 1800's to the Great Depression--the economic hard times of the 1930's. In that period, about 60 million people moved to a new land. Most came from Europe. More than half emigrated to the United States. Other destinations included Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Today, the availability of fast, safe, and cheap transportation helps make migration easier. Asia is replacing Europe as the major immigrant-sending area. The United States remains the chief receiving nation.
Causes of immigration
People forsake their homeland and move to another country for various reasons. Some people emigrate to avoid starvation. Some seek adventure. Others wish to escape unbearable family situations. Still others desire to be reunited with loved ones. However, the main reason for immigration has long been economic opportunity--the lure of better land or a better job. During the 1800's, for example, the rich prairie land of the United States and Canada attracted many European farmers. Today, professional people commonly emigrate because of better opportunities elsewhere. Such emigration has sometimes been called brain drain. For example, many Philippine doctors and nurses and numerous Indian engineers and scientists have moved to the United States and Australia.
Religious persecution has led many people to move to a new land for the freedom to practice their faith. Such immigrants include Jews expelled from England in the 1200's and Baha'is fleeing Iran in the 1980's. Wars, revolutions, and political unrest have driven innumerable people to find new homes. In the 1990's alone, millions of refugees fled from warfare in Iraq, Rwanda, Liberia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Some immigrants were brought to a new land against their will. From the 1500's to the 1800's, Europeans shipped black Africans to the Western Hemisphere as slaves. The United Kingdom transported convicts to Australia from the late 1700's to the 1860's to relieve overcrowding in British jails. Before that time, the United Kingdom sent convicts to the American Colonies.
Effects of immigration
Many immigrants to a new country first settle in a community made up of people from their native land or even their native village. They keep their old customs and acquire a limited knowledge of their new country's culture, language, and values. In time, however, most immigrants begin to assimilate (adapt to a new culture). Immigrants who adapt most quickly usually have a background similar to the new cultural environment and much contact with the new society. They also plan to remain permanently in the new country. Most immigrants find a job and strive to buy a home. They try to provide their children with the education and opportunities not available in the immigrants' native land. They become citizens of the new country and take part in politics and government.
Immigrants have made enormous contributions to the culture and economy of such nations as Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. But their accomplishments have been made with great difficulty. Many of the receiving countries have restricted immigration to maintain a homogeneous society in which all the people shared the same