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Icehouse (building)
An ice house, or icehouse, is a building used to store ice throughout the year, commonly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator. Some were underground chambers, usually man-made, close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes, but many were buildings with various types of insulation. During the winter, ice and snow would be cut from lakes or rivers, taken into the ice house, and packed with insulation (often straw or sawdust). It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during the summer months. The main application of the ice was the storage of foods, but it could also be used simply to cool drinks, or in the preparation of ice cream and sorbet desserts. During the heyday of the ice trade, a typical commercial ice house would store of ice in a and building. History A cuneiform tablet from 1780 BCE records the construction of an icehouse by Zimri-Lim, the King of Mari, in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains part of that company. Ballantine's original logo was a pair of mirrored letter Bs back to back, later changing to two Bs stacked to form an elaborate gate. The firm's early editors were Stanley Kauffmann and Bernard Shir-Cliff. History Following Fawcett Publications' controversial 1950 introduction of Gold Medal paperback originals rather than reprints, Lion Books, Avon and Ace also decided to publish originals. In 1952, Ian Ballantine, a founder of Bantam Books, announced that he would "offer trade publishers a plan for simultaneous publishing of original titles in two editions, a hardcover 'regular' edition for bookstore sale, and a paper-cover, 'newsstand' size, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thatched
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed—trapping air—thatching also functions as insulation. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates. Thatch is still employed by builders in developing countries, usually with low-cost local vegetation. By contrast, in some developed countries it is the choice of some affluent people who desire a rustic look for their home, would like a more ecologically friendly roof, or who have purchased an originally thatched abode. History Thatching methods have traditionally been passed down from generation to generation and numerous descriptions of the materials and methods used in Europe over the past three centuries survive in archives and early publica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). Lumber has many uses beyond home building. Lumber is referred to as timber in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, while in other parts of the world, including the United States and Canada, the term ''timber'' refers specifically to unprocessed wood fiber, such as cut logs or standing trees that have yet to be cut. Lumber may be supplied either rough- sawn, or surfaced on one or more of its faces. ''Rough lumber'' is the raw material for furniture-making, and manufacture of other items requiring cutting and shaping. It is available in many species, including hardwoods and softwoods, such as white pine and red pine, because of their low cost. ''Finished lumber'' is supplied in standard sizes, mostly for the construction ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Well
A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn up by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets that are raised mechanically or by hand. Water can also be injected back into the aquifer through the well. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age. Wells have traditionally been sunk by hand digging, as is still the case in rural areas of the developing world. These wells are inexpensive and low-tech as they use mostly manual labour, and the structure can be lined with b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal Palaces, a charity set up to preserve several unoccupied royal properties. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and the chief minister of Henry VIII. In 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the cardinal gave the palace to the king to try to save his own life, which he knew was now in grave danger due to Henry VIII's deepening frustration and anger. The palace went on to become one of Henry's most favoured residences; soon after acquiring the property, he arranged for it to be enlarged so it could accommodate his sizeable retinue of Courtier, courtiers. In the early 1690s, William III of England, William III's massive rebuilding and expansion work, which was intended to rival the Palace of V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the eight Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. Surrounding the hilltop Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory (opened in 1676) and straddling the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Prime Meridian, it commands elevated views over the River Thames, the Isle of Dogs and the City of London. The park is open year-round, and incorporates flower gardens as well as grassy spaces, a children's playground, cafés and other amenities, a bandstand, a boating lake, a pond, wooded areas, and a wildlife habitat called 'The Wilderness'. The park also contains Roman and Anglo-Saxon remains, and is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England, Register of Historic Parks and Gardens; in 2020, it was awarded a National Lotte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James VI And I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until Death and funeral of James VI and I, his death in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of England, England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII of England, Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He acceded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was forced to abdicate in his favour. Although his mother was a Catholic, James was brought up as a Protestant. Four regents gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qanat
A qanāt () or kārīz () is a water supply system that was developed in ancient Iran for the purpose of transporting usable water to the surface from an aquifer or a well through an underground aqueduct. Originating approximately 3,000 years ago, its function is essentially the same across the Middle East and North Africa, but it is known by a variety of regional names beyond today's Iran, including: kārēz in Afghanistan and Pakistan; foggāra in Algeria; khettāra in Morocco; falaj in Oman and the United Arab Emirates; and ʿuyūn in Saudi Arabia. In addition to those in Iran, the largest extant and functional qanats are located in Afghanistan, Algeria, China (i.e., the Turpan water system), Oman, and Pakistan. Proving crucial to water supply in areas with hot and dry climates, a qanat enables water to be transported over long distances by largely eliminating the risk of much of it evaporating on the journey. The system also has the advantage of being fairly resistant to n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heat Reservoir
A thermal reservoir, also thermal energy reservoir or thermal bath, is a thermodynamic system with a heat capacity so large that the temperature of the reservoir changes relatively little when a significant amount of heat is added or extracted. As a conceptual simplification, it effectively functions as an infinite pool of thermal energy at a given, constant temperature. Since it can act as an inertial source and sink of heat, it is often also referred to as a heat reservoir or heat bath. Lakes, oceans and rivers often serve as thermal reservoirs in geophysical processes, such as the weather. In atmospheric science, large air mass In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...es in the atmosphere often function as thermal reservoirs. Since the temperature of a thermal rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solar Chimney
A solar chimney often referred to as a thermal chimney is a way of improving the natural ventilation of buildings by using convection of air heated by passive solar energy. A simple description of a solar chimney is that of a vertical shaft utilizing solar energy to enhance the natural stack ventilation through a building. The solar chimney has been in use for centuries, particularly in the Middle East and Near East by the Persians, as well as in Europe by the Romans. Description In its simplest form, the solar chimney consists of a black-painted chimney. During the day solar energy heats the chimney and the air within it, creating an updraft of air in the chimney. The suction created at the chimney's base can be used to ventilate and cool the building below. In most parts of the world it is easier to harness wind power for such ventilation as with a windcatcher, but on hot windless days a solar chimney can provide ventilation where otherwise there would be none. There are ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiative Cooling
In the study of heat transfer, radiative cooling is the process by which a body loses heat by thermal radiation. As Planck's law describes, every physical body spontaneously and continuously emits electromagnetic radiation. Radiative cooling has been applied in various contexts throughout human history, including Ice-making, ice making in India and Iran, Heat shield, heat shields for spacecraft, and in architecture. In 2014, a scientific breakthrough in the use of Photonic metamaterial, photonic metamaterials made daytime radiative cooling possible. It has since been proposed as a strategy to mitigate local and global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions known as passive daytime radiative cooling. Terrestrial radiative cooling Mechanism Infrared radiation can pass through dry, clear air in the wavelength range of 8–13 μm. Materials that can absorb energy and radiate it in those wavelengths exhibit a strong cooling effect. Materials that can also reflect 95% or mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
