text:
Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale

Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale ("Туманность Андромеды"), is a science fiction novel by the Soviet writer and paleontologist Ivan Yefremov, written in 1955–1956 and published in 1957. It was translated into English as Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale by George Hanna. The novel predicted some future inventions (borazon, space probe, powered exoskeleton and ion thruster). The German translation of the novel which was highly censored was serialized in the East German popular science magazine Jugend und Technik in 1958. It was made into a film in 1967, The Andromeda Nebula.

Yefremov's 1958 short story "The Heart of the Serpent" and the 1968 novel The Bull's Hour, which are set in the same universe some 200 years later, are considered its sequels.

Plot summary
The book portrays Yefremov's conception of a classic communist utopia set in a distant future. Throughout the novel, the author's attention is focused on the social and cultural aspects of the society, and the struggle to conquer vast cosmic distances. There are several principal heroes, including a starship captain, two scientists, a historian, and an archeologist. Though the world described in the novel is intended to be ideal, there is an attempt to show a conflict and its resolution with a voluntary self-punishment of a scientist whose reckless experiment caused damage. There's also a fair amount of action in the episodes where the crew of the starship fight alien predators.

In the novel, several civilizations across our galaxy, including Earth, are united in the Great Circle, whose members exchange and relay scientific and cultural information. Notably, faster-than-light travel or communication does not exist in the time portrayed in the book, and one of the minor plot lines examines a failed attempt to overcome this limitation. The radio transmissions around the Great Circle are pictured as requiring a tremendous amount of energy, and are thus infrequent.

One of the main plot lines follows the crew of the spacecraft Tantra led by Captain Erg Noor, dispatched to investigate the sudden radio silence of one of the nearby Great Circle planets. The crew travels to the planet, and discovers that most life on it has been destroyed by unsafe experimentation with radioactivity. On their return journey, the Tantra is scheduled to meet a carrier spacecraft to refuel, but the second ship does not make the rendezvous. The crew attempts the return voyage with meager fuel, but is trapped by the gravitational field of an "iron star" (some form of compact star in modern terms). The crew lands on one of its planets, where they discover the wreck of a previous expedition, as well as a mysterious alien spacecraft. After fighting off the native life-form, the crew retrieve the remaining fuel supplies from the wreck and succeed in returning to earth.

The second major plot line follows Darr Veter, the director of the global space agency as he makes way for a successor and then attempt to find a new job for himself. When his successor voluntarily steps down as punishment for a daring experiment that goes wrong, Veter returns to the position. The book closes with the launch of a new expedition, once again led by Noor, to a pair of new planets that offer the possibility of human colonisation. It is a bittersweet ending, as the cosmonauts themselves will not live long enough to return.

Literary significance and criticism
Critics have accused the heroes of the novel being more of philosophical ideas than live people. Nevertheless, the novel was a major milestone in Soviet science-fiction literature, which, in Stalin's era, had been much more short-sighted (never venturing more than a few decades into the future) and primarily focusing on technical inventions rather than social issues (the so-called "fiction aim theory" ("фантастика ближнего прицела") for science fiction). Boris Strugatsky wrote: Yefremov was an ice breaker of a man. He has broken the seemingly unbreakable ice of the "short aim theory". He has shown how one can and should write modern SF, and thus has ushered a new era of Soviet SF. Of course those times were already different, the Stalin Ice Age was nearing its end, and I think that even without Andromeda, Soviet SF would soon start a new course. But the publication of Andromeda has become a symbol of the new era, its banner, in some sense. Without it, the new growth would have been an order of magnitude more difficult, and a thaw in our SF wouldn't have come until later. The novel has been credited with popularizing science fiction in the Soviet bloc, as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union decided that this genre could be used to promote the idea of communism's inevitable victory in the future.

Crew of the first class spaceship Tantra
(37th Space Expedition)
 * Erg Noor, chief of the expedition, spaceship commander
 * Nisa Creet, astronavigator
 * Pour Hyss, astronomer
 * Louma Lasvy, ship's physician
 * Eon Thal, biologist
 * Ingrid Dietra, astronomer
 * Pel Lynn, astronavigator
 * Beena Ledd, geologist
 * Taron, mechanical engineer
 * Ione Marr, teacher of gymnastics, dietary supervisor, storekeeper
 * Kay Bear, electronic engineer

Men

 * Grom Orme, President of the Astronautical Council
 * Diss Ken, his son
 * Zieg Zohr, music composer
 * Thor Ann, son of Zieg Zohr, Diss Ken's friend
 * Mir Ohm, Secretary of the Astronautical Council
 * Darr Veter, retiring Director of the Outer Stations
 * Mwen Mass, successor to Darr Veter
 * Junius Antus, Director of the Electronic Memory Machines
 * Kam Amat, Indian scientist (In a former age)
 * Liao Lang, palaeontologist
 * Renn Bose, physicist
 * Cart Sann, painter
 * Frith Don, Director of the Maritime Archaeological Expedition
 * Sherliss, mechanic to the expedition
 * Ahf Noot, prominent surgeon
 * Grimm Schar, biologist of the Institute of Nerve Currents
 * Zann Senn, poet, historian
 * Heb Uhr, soil scientist
 * Beth Lohn, mathematician, criminal in exile
 * Embe Ong, candidate for Director of the Outer Stations
 * Cadd Lite, engineer on Satellite 57

Women

 * Evda Nahl, psychiatrist
 * Rhea, her daughter
 * Veda Kong, historian
 * Miyiko Eigoro, historian, Veda's assistant
 * Chara Nandi, biologist, dancer, artist's model
 * Onar, girl of the Island of Oblivion
 * Eva Djann, astronomer
 * Liuda Pheer, psychologist (in a former age)

Extraterrestrial characters

 * Goor Hahn, observer on the diurnal satellite
 * Zaph Phthet, Director of External Relations of the planet of 61 Cygni

title: Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale


text:
Darren Flutie

Darren Paul Flutie (born November 18, 1966) is an American former Canadian football wide receiver for the BC Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He is the Canadian Football League's fifth all-time leader in catches, behind Nik Lewis, Geroy Simon, Ben Cahoon, and Terry Vaughn.

Early life
He is the younger brother of quarterback Doug Flutie and also attended Boston College, though he did not graduate. He ranks among the all-time leaders in program history in receptions (134) while also having 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2007.

Pro career
Prior to the CFL, Flutie played briefly for the San Diego Chargers in the 1988 season as an undrafted free agent. He didn't have starting time, but he played enough to make 18 receptions for 208 yards and two touchdowns while also returning eight kicks. He was cut prior to the 1989 season and joined the Phoenix Cardinals for 1991 but did not get to play. It was only then that Flutie was convinced by his brother Doug to play in Vancouver with him for the BC Lions. The 1991 season was the only one that saw the two Fluties on the same field, as Doug would leave in free agency for the Calgary Stampeders after the year ended.

In 1996, Flutie went to the Edmonton Eskimos, who had quarterback Danny McManus (the quarterback behind BC for most of the 1995 season) on the roster. In 1998, Flutie and McManus signed with Hamilton. Hamilton made two Grey Cups with Flutie on the roster in 1998 and 1999, with both being against Calgary. Flutie did not score a touchdown in the loss of 1998, but he made significant contributions in 1999. He caught a long pass from McManus of 40 yards to set up a field goal to make the score 10-0. Later, he scored the final touchdown of the first half to give them a 21-0 lead. He then scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 32-14 before Hamilton won 32-21, for which McManus won MVP; Flutie caught six passes for 109 yards. It was the last Grey Cup appearance for Hamilton for 14 years and currently ranks as the last Grey Cup championship for the franchise.

With his 1,000-yard season in 2001, he tied a record for most 1,000-yard seasons for a receiver with nine. The following year saw him set a record for most receptions in CFL history; both marks have since been passed.

Flutie ranks fourth all-time in career receiving yardage behind Geroy Simon, Milt Stegall, and Allen Pitts. He held the BC Lions club record for receiving yardage in a season, 1,731 yards, from 1994 to 2004 when Geroy Simon achieved 1750 yards. His Canadian career lasted from 1991 until 2002.

During his time in the league, he had various second jobs to make more money, which ranged from selling Christmas trees, bartending, limo driving, or as a Read Custom Soils salesman.

After football
He was as an analyst on the CFL on CBC from 2002 to 2006. In November 2006, Darren Flutie joined his brother, Doug Flutie, on the list of the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. In 2007, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Since leaving CBC, Flutie has served as a high school football coach. He was volunteer coach with the Natick High School football team from 2007 until his son Troy graduated in 2014. He was also NHS' boys basketball head coach during the 2008–09 season. He then served as offensive coordinator at Newton South High School and from 2018 to 2020 held the same position at the Rivers School. He also works for a medical device company.

In 2023, Flutie was honored by the Ti-Cats with induction into the team's Wall of Honour.

CFL records

 * Playoff receptions : 185
 * Regular season receptions : 972 (since passed by others, including leader Nik Lewis in 2017)
 * Most seasons 1,000 yards receiving : 9 (tied with Allen Pitts) (passed by Milt Stegall in 2008)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Darren Flutie


text:
USS Maine (BB-10)

USS Maine (BB-10), the lead ship of her class of pre-dreadnought battleships, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 23rd state. Maine was laid down in February 1899 at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard in Philadelphia. She was launched in July 1901 and commissioned into the fleet in December 1902. She was armed with a main battery of four 12 in guns and could steam at a top speed of 18 kn.

Maine served in the Atlantic for the entirety of her career with the North Atlantic Fleet, which later became the Atlantic Fleet; during the early years of her service, she was the fleet flagship, until she was replaced in 1907. Later that year, she joined the cruise of the Great White Fleet, though her heavy coal consumption prevented her from continuing with the fleet past San Francisco. After returning to the U.S., she served as the 3rd Squadron flagship. During America's participation in World War I from April 1917 to November 1918, Maine was used as a training ship. She remained in active service until May 1920, when she was decommissioned. The ship was ultimately sold for scrap in January 1922 and broken up for scrap under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty signed that year.

Description
The United States Congress passed a major naval construction program in response to the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898; the program included three new battleships, which were to become the Maine class. The class incorporated several significant technological developments, including smaller caliber main guns that used smokeless powder to achieve greater muzzle velocity (and thus penetrating power), Krupp cemented armor that was stronger than Harvey armor used on earlier vessels, and water-tube boilers that provided more power for the engines.

Maine was 393 ft long overall and had a beam of 72 ft and a draft of 24 ft. She displaced 12846 LT as designed and up to 13700 LT at full load. The ship was powered by two-shaft triple-expansion steam engines rated at 16000 ihp, driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty-four coal-fired Niclausse boilers, which were vented into three funnels. The propulsion system generated a top speed of 18 kn. As built, she was fitted with heavy military masts, but these were quickly replaced by cage masts in 1909. She had a crew of 561 officers and enlisted men, which increased to 779–813.

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 12 in /40 caliber guns in two twin gun turrets on the centerline, one forward and aft. The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 6 in /50 caliber Mark 6 guns, which were placed in casemates in the hull. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried six 3 in /50 caliber guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull, eight 3-pounder guns, and six 1-pounder guns. As was standard for capital ships of the period, Maine carried two 18 in torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside.

Maine's main armored belt was 11 in thick over the magazines and the propulsion machinery spaces and 8 in elsewhere. The main battery gun turrets had 12 in thick faces, and the supporting barbettes had the same thickness of armor plating on their exposed sides. Armor that was 6 in thick protected the secondary battery. The conning tower had 10 in thick sides.

Service history
Maine was built by the William Cramp & Sons shipyard in Philadelphia; her keel was laid down on 15 February 1899. The ship was launched on 27 July 1901 and commissioned into the fleet on 29 December 1902. Maine operated with the North Atlantic Fleet starting in 1903; over the next four years, she took part in various peacetime training exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. During this period she also steamed to the Mediterranean. She served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans. On 16 April 1907, Evans transferred his flag to the newly commissioned battleship USS Connecticut (BB-18).

Maine's next significant action was the cruise of the Great White Fleet around the world, which started with a naval review for President Theodore Roosevelt in Hampton Roads. The cruise of the Great White Fleet was conceived as a way to demonstrate American military power, particularly to Japan. Tensions had begun to rise between the United States and Japan after the latter's victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, particularly over racist opposition to Japanese immigration to the United States. The press in both countries began to call for war, and Roosevelt hoped to use the demonstration of naval might to deter Japanese aggression. On 17 December, the fleet steamed out of Hampton Roads and cruised south to the Caribbean and then to South America, making stops in Port of Spain, Rio de Janeiro, Punta Arenas, and Valparaíso, among other cities. After arriving in Mexico in March 1908, the fleet spent three weeks conducting gunnery practice. The fleet then resumed its voyage up the Pacific coast of the Americas, stopping in San Francisco, where Maine was detached from the rest of the fleet. The ship's boilers had proved to be badly inefficient, requiring excessive amounts of coal to keep up with the fleet. The battleship USS Alabama (BB-8) also left the fleet, owing to a cracked cylinder head.

Maine and Alabama crossed the Pacific independently, via Guam and the Philippines. After steaming through the Indian Ocean, they transited the Suez Canal and cruised the Mediterranean. They crossed the Atlantic and arrived back on the east coast of the United States in October 1908, well ahead of the rest of the Great White Fleet. Following their arrival, Maine was assigned as the flagship of the 3rd Squadron, Atlantic Fleet, and operated off the east coast for the next several months. On 14 February, Maine, the new battleships USS New Hampshire (BB-25), USS Mississippi (BB-23), and USS Idaho (BB-24), two armored cruisers and two scout cruisers were organized to meet the returning Great White Fleet. Maine and the rest of the squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Conway Hillyer Arnold, steamed out into the Atlantic and rendezvoused with the Great White Fleet on 17 February. The combined fleet arrived in Hampton Roads on the 22nd, where a large naval review was held for Theodore Roosevelt to celebrate the journey. On 31 August 1909, the ship was temporarily decommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She returned to service on 15 June 1911 for duty with the Atlantic Fleet.

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, entering World War I. During the war, Maine was employed as a training ship for engine room personnel, armed guards for merchant ships, and midshipmen from the US Naval Academy. On 11 November 1918, Germany signed the Armistice that ended the conflict. Maine participated in a naval review held in New York on 26 December to celebrate the Allied victory. At the time, most of the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet were used as transports to ferry American soldiers back from France. Maine and her sisters were not so employed, however, owing to their short range and small size, which would not permit sufficient additional accommodations. Maine instead remained on the east coast with the Atlantic Fleet. On 15 May 1920, she was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was reclassified as BB-10 on 17 July. She was kept laid up for a year and a half before being sold on 23 January 1922 to J.G. Hitner and W.F. Cutler of Philadelphia, to be broken up for scrap. By 17 December 1923, she had been disarmed in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty, which mandated significant reductions in naval strength. Maine was then scrapped.

title: USS Maine (BB-10)


text:
Humphrey Hody

Humphrey Hody (1659 – 20 January 1707) was an English scholar and theologian.

Life
He was born at Odcombe in Somerset in 1659. In 1676 he entered Wadham College, Oxford, of which he became a fellow in 1685. In 1692 he became chaplain to Edward Stillingfleet, bishop of Worcester, and for his support of the ruling party in a controversy with Henry Dodwell regarding the non-juring bishops he was appointed chaplain to Archbishop John Tillotson, an office which he continued to hold under Thomas Tenison.

In 1698 he was appointed regius professor of Greek at Oxford, and in 1704 was made archdeacon of Oxford.

Works
In 1684 he published ''Contra historiam Aristeae de LXX. interpretibus dissertatio'', in which he argued that the so-called "Letter of Aristeas", containing an account of the production of the Septuagint, was the late forgery of a Hellenic Jew originally circulated to lend authority to that version. The dissertation was generally regarded as conclusive, although Isaac Vossius published an angry and scurrilous reply to it in the appendix to his edition of Pomponius Mela.

In 1689 Hody wrote the Prolegomena to the Greek chronicle of John Malalas, published at Oxford in 1691. In 1701 he published A History of English Councils and Convocations, and in 1703 in four volumes De Bibliorum textis originalibus, in which he included a revision of his work on the Septuagint, and published a reply to Vossius.

A work, De Graecis Illustribus, which he left in manuscript, was published in 1742 by Samuel Jebb, who prefixed to it a Latin life of the author.

title: Humphrey Hody


text:
Talk:Philately

Etymology & other 2003 & 2004 posts
This should definitely have the etymology of philately near the top.

I don't know how to salvage this, maybe somebody else can: Stan 19:08 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC)

Stamps by country - Some philatelists prefer to limit their study to the stamps produced by a particular stamp issuing authority, or "country" in its broadest sense of the word. This may refer to defunct, rebel or sub-national groups which felt the need to provide or pretend to provide postal services within their jurisdictions.

Postal stationery - These philatelists study such items as post cards and stamped envelopes used to facilitate postal service without the need to affix a gummed stamp to an envelope.

Philately in fiction and art - These people like to study the influence of philately in other areas such as the following:
 * Novels
 * Plays
 * Poetry
 * Jig-saw puzzles about stamps
 * Stamps on neckties

 * The above has been revised, and now should be more satisfactory. Eclecticology 18:46 Mar 2, 2003 (UTC)

 * OK, "postal stationery" I can see, but "by country" and "fiction and art" categories I've never heard of before, and I don't have any literature discussing either of these as such. I suppose they could go in, but is there a reference work to go with? (Williams has nothing.) Stan 20:10 Mar 2, 2003 (UTC)

I uploaded an image which may be of use, it's a bit crooked, but I can't figure out how to fix it. I put it at Music of Trinidad and Tobago but someone may find it useful in a stamp-related page. Tuf-Kat 23:37, Jan 14, 2004 (UTC)

"Timbrophily" vs "Timbrophilia"
I rechecked Williams, and it's definitely "timbrophily" that was the proposed term. "Timbrophilia" might be a generalized affection for stamps, but we shouldn't mention it unless it's been documented as a past or present synonym of "philately". Stan 13:22, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Userbox
For those interested, here are userboxes set up for placement on one's userpage. --Aquarius Rising 23:40, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Image placement
Ya know, I carefully selected and arranged all the images so as to illustrate the concepts being discussed in the adjacent text. Moving them all into a gallery of microscopic thumbnails completely destroys that value. I'm going to revert unless somebody makes a really really good counterargument. (What is it with galleries these days anyway? Hundreds of well-illustrated articles are being ruined.) Stan 23:24, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Oh! very sorry, I made it into a gallery since the text and the images were not flowing very well. I thought it would look better in a gallery since they were all captioned. Please go ahead and revert it back to old format.-- PremKudva Talk  04:05, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I tend to agree with Stan. Even though different browsers display images slightly differently I think it is better to try and place appropriate images close to the related text. When there is no real relationship between the text and the images there may be a case for the gallery of images as in Post box or stamp_collecting_equipment that Premkudva did. Cheers ww2censor 04:40, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

 * OK, rolled back to pre-gallerification, thanks for the permission! Did you have a specific flow problem in mind? I only use Moz on OS X, if some other browser was struggling, I wouldn't know about it. Perhaps the text should be pumped up, I find the flow is optimal at an average of about 1 - 1.5 images onscreen at any one time, and right now this one has 2- and even 3-image screens that do seem a bit squeezed. Stan 04:48, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Philately vs Stamp Collecting
THEY ARE SYNONYMOUS. This issue is so silly! It is like asking "is oceanography the study of the oceans?". LOL seriously! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.43.233.110 (talk) 01:31, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Is there a reason there are two seperate articles for these? Cogswobble 17:03, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Philately encompasses Stamp collecting but not visa versa. ww2censor 04:27, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the answer! Cogswobble 22:12, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I'm not convinced for the need for separate articles. It's nice to maintain the distinction, which we can by explaining it in the text of the article, but in popular usage the difference is not all that significant.

 * If you have a look at the articles as they stand today, most of what is written in each is completely relevant to the other. Both articles mention equipment, specializations and organizations (though to inconsistently different degrees of detail), while additional information under Collecting such as history and catalogues is relevant to Philately.

 * For these reasons, I recommend a common article under Philately (the broader category) with a paragraph near the top describing the difference in emphasis between them.

 * Raichu2 (talk) 20:54, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry but I think you just don't know the difference. Sure there are overlaps but Stamp collecting is not Philately not visa versa. Maybe both article needs more editing to differentiate better to satisfy you but I will not support you nor, I presume, will any of the stamp collectors or philatelists here either. Maybe you will get support from non-specialists. I think this would be similar to suggesting a merge of Government and Politics; sure they cover a lot of the same ground but are distinctly different activities. I doubt anyone would agree with that merge. ww2censor (talk) 23:56, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
 * It would not be the death of WP to merge the two, but I think you'd end up with a portmanteau article, half of which talks about collecting and half of which talks about study, and then a year from now, someone new will come along and say "hey! there should be two articles!" 1/2 :-) One of these days I should tear myself away from pics and per-country philately, and update these two articles. Stan (talk) 01:30, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Must agree with Stan that both articles need some work and if merged would, without doubt, be demerged later. ww2censor (talk) 04:42, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

OK I've done a little bit of research. Up to now I was not opposed to separate articles, I was simply pointing out that there would be considerable overlap, so that the material could be arranged under the major topic. Like I said, much of the existing material on WP on each article is relevant to the other, which proves my point. Furthermore many books on the subject ably succeed in covering both aspects; they just arrange appropriate material in suitable chapters.

Up to now I too have thought of philately as the technical study of stamps, while collecting was finding and arranging stamps of a country, etc. Higher authorities, however, do not agree:
 * reference.com cites Columbia with the definition, "collection and study of postage stamps and of materials relating to their history and use". It does not have an entry for stamp collecting.
 * Merriam-Webster (m-w.com) says, "the collection and study of postage and imprinted stamps". It does not have an entry for stamp collecting either.
 * My Macquarie dictionary has a very similar definition of philately as covering both aspects. It has an entry for stamp-collector with the simple definition of "a philatelist".

Perhaps looking at a few more authorities for comparison could be useful, but it would appear that the term philately does encompass both study and collection of stamps, so that a separate article for stamp collecting is inadvisable. Raichu2 (talk) 11:17, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

 * Hah, not only can I top the general references authoritywise, but L.N. Williams' Fundamentals of Philately, pp. 32-34, has a section headed "Philately and Stamp Collecting", in which he lays out the reasons for the distinction, concluding with "Collecting is incidental and not essential to philately". He does note his disagreement with dictionaries. I also observe that the coin people have found the distinction useful as well, witness numismatics and coin collecting. In a similar fashion, physics and mechanical engineering are different articles too. :-) Stan (talk) 14:34, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Indeed, Raichu2's references are general ones that do not make the specific distinction because they do not understand it. Stan makes the points well especially showing comparisons. You can in fact be a philatelist and not collect stamps at all but not all stamp collectors will study the stamp, they just collect for collection sake and don't bother to study the stamps they collect, so are not philatelists per se. Stamp collecting does not encompass philately but philately can encompass stamp collecting. ww2censor (talk) 15:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * "do not make the specific distinction because they do not understand it": Do we define a term according to what it "should" be (so Williams), or according to how the term is used in practice (the official Webster policy)? What is the wikipedia policy (this has been an issue for all lexicographers)?
 * Another question, if we have separate pages, how do we keep the large body of common material in sync? If someone fixes a mistake in the area of say storage of stamps on the "stamp collecting" page, how would they then know to check the philately page? Raichu2 (talk) 20:08, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I think one can find plenty of authorities for both making a distinction and not, so this is not really a point on which appeal to authority serves us adequately (and far from the first such case in WP!); one gets into silly arguments about which authority is more authoritative, and doesn't get anywhere. For me, the most compelling reason to separate is a practical one, in that we have two kinds of material, and so it's useful for the purposes of WP to have the two articles. Something like stamp storage seems pretty clearly only about collections, so I would expect that there would be nothing to do in the philately article. Ironically, rereading this article, one of the reasons it's shortish is that much of the pure philatelic content is covered in depth in additional articles, so this one tends to be more of an index than it should be. It should be more like country articles, which have 2-3 paragraphs on such subtopic, as well as separate articles ("History of X", "Economy of X", etc). Two full-length philately and collecting articles will be more obviously desirable to keep separate, right now the usefulness of the distinction is not so obvious. Stan (talk) 01:35, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

OK since this is a bigger debate than I realized, I've done a bit more digging. I did a poll at the virtual stamp club, a lively philatelic forum, and out of 62 respondents so far, 59 (95%) believe that philately encompasses both collection and study of stamps. Some respondents quoted philatelic literature (including L.N. Williams) as saying the same thing. All philatelic web sites where I have found a definition of philately state that it encompasses both aspects, including Linns (which AFAIK is a respected publisher). Sure, many indicate that there is more to it than just collecting, but they don't exclude collecting from its scope.

My personal opinion is now the opposite of what I thought originally: the term philately as defined and used by both lexicographers and philatelists definitely includes both aspects. My original reasons for supporting the merging of the two articles was only that there was a lot of overlap but that the distinction should be maintained. Now I think the opposite:

 * The definition of philately should be changed to encompass stamp collecting, but with a note in deference of those with a different opinion provided we can find a verifiable quote in its support.

 * The two pages could be maintained if philately links to stamp collecting with a note that aspects relating to collection, maintenance, storage, handling and display of stamps is to be found under that heading. The point is that the article should indicate that those aspects peculiar to stamp collecting are still encompassed within the field of philately. Or some suitable compromise like that. Those who study stamps still need to obtain, store, handle and display them.

 * Stamp collecting should have a link to philately to indicate that there is a broader field that includes the study of stamps (if there isn't one already).

 * Both articles need to be expanded, I think. I know there are lots of individual articles where the in-depth stuff resides, but the main articles need to at least mention those areas and link to them (where they don't already).

 * Philately mentions "topical philately". Shouldn't that come under stamp collecting?

Raichu2 (talk) 07:54, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

 * You mean like topical stamp collecting? On merging, if you're just dying to do it yourself, OK, give it a shot and let's see how it looks. But I would appreciate it if you would make the commitment, not just to mash the two articles together, but to clear up any ensuing problems such as redundant links and repeated text, here and in other articles. It's not really fair to do just a little bit of this kind of big job and then move on, expecting others to clean up after you. Stan (talk) 15:37, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Philately: Etymology
Philately is a fusion of "phil" the Greek word for love and "atélia" (pronounced a-tay-li-ah) the Greek word for "freedom from charges (taken to mean recipient's freedom from delivery charges by virtue of the stamp that the sender affixed to the letter)...Source: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language. Cnutraj 08:07, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

The above is a rather far-fetched theory! The much more likelier explanation is that philatelie is a westernised rendition of philo+telos (i.e. love of charges - in this case postal charges = stamps). The Greek rendition of the word is philotelismos - --Irlandos (talk) 10:24, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

 * We don't have to guess, you know - Georges Herpin coined the term in a November 1864 article, explaining that it was a combination based on "philos" and "atelis", the latter explained as "free, exempt from any charge or tax, franked". Fundamentals of Philately has a nice little summary on p. 32. Stan (talk) 19:37, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Wording choice
In the introduction, "...a stamp collector may choose to acquire and arrange the little pictures without being much troubled about their origin or usage." This phrase seems a bit unencyclopedic. Suggestion: "...stamp collecting is the acquisition of stamps, at times without regard for origin or usage." 68.122.193.47 03:07, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Does anyone mind if I act on my suggestion? --Fcsuper 17:31, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

 * Done. --Fcsuper (talk) 00:47, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Types of philately
The lists under "Types of philately" might be a better fit under the article Topical stamp collecting. The bulleted items seem to be such unnecessarily. I realize this is a comment about formatting only. It just struck me as odd when I was browsing through the article and then looked at that section for points of interest only to find out it was nothing more than a laundry list. Fcsuper 03:15, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually this really needs either a substantial expansion or even rewrite into a more comprehensive article. Do you want to help? ww2censor 03:28, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I'll help where I can. I'm not knowledgeable in this field.  Didn't even know what "never hinged" meant until yesterday. :) --Fcsuper 17:30, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

 * Not uncommon for random editors to start random lists in the middle of an article. I moved the list to the topical collecting article, and linked to it from here. We need some sort of semi-objective criterion for what "X on stamps" deserve explicit mention - could be the 20 most popular, if any statistics or available, or maybe just the topics for which the ATA etc have published a list. (Without a written criterion, the list will just be too arbitrary to be meaningful.) Stan 05:45, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you, Stan. --Fcsuper 17:30, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

Expand?
What needs to be expanded? If it's not a specific task, the tag should be removed. --In Defense of the Artist (talk) 21:23, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually it need more than just expansion, but possibly a rewrite and restructure to cover aspects not covered here. ww2censor (talk) 22:11, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

 * I think the tag should be removed. It is needs to be more encylopediatic, then that tag should be added instead.  Any objections to the rv of the expansion tag? —  f c s u p e r ( How's That?, That's How! ) (Exclusionistic Immediatist ) — 00:37, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Completed without objection. —  f c s u p e r ( How's That?, That's How! ) (Exclusionistic Immediatist ) — 14:52, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Catalogue of the World ?
Is this link http://www.stamp-philately.com (removed link to now porn site) appropriate for WP, especially in the Socities section? It looks like a commercial business site to me. Sv1xv (talk) 11:31, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * An interesting project, sort of a half-ebay half-wiki. Too full of errors to be of any interest to us, look at the top of 1899 and see all the British Columbia stamps that actually date from 30-40 years earlier. We want to point people to better sources of info, not poorer ones. :-) (But pull all the PD images onto commons!) Stan (talk) 14:03, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Unsourced and, for Ireland anyway, have copied the images from Europeanstamps.net. You can shop at their store though it does not seem to be working yet. Not verifiable as yet, if ever. ww2censor (talk) 16:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * If it is unsourced etc (I agree), why did you put it back in the article main text under philatelic societies? Couldn't you just delete it? I moved it from the main article to "Further reading" beacuse it is not appropriate for WP. Sv1xv (talk) 18:57, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Oops! I reverted instead of deleting, but it's gone now. ww2censor (talk) 22:26, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Philately Definition
I know I'm new to this but I thought why not start with the Definition. :)

Current Version
Philately is the study and collecting of revenue and postage stamps.

Proposed Change
Philately by definition covers broadly the collection and study of postage stamps, revenue, postal stationary, postal marks and the history surrounding each.

DjTaber62 (talk) 20:07, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

 * The proposal is kind of wordy. Someone that wants to get in, get the key info ("what is this weird word?"), and get out, doesn't want a first sentence that introduces a bunch more specialized terms. A second sentence could be something like "Philately's scope include stamp-related items such as postal stationery, along with the study of postal marks and postal history." While we're on the subject of lede wording, I note that someone added "and collecting" to the first sentence, then later it says "may or may not include collecting". I think the "may or may not" is probably closer to common usage, the distinction we may make here being borderline pedantic, but in any case the first para ought to be self-consistent. Stan (talk) 14:25, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea of the 2nd sentence inclusion to bring those other terms to light. Also the comment on consistency around "may or may not" include collecting. Hopefully, get few more thoughts from the community to embrace a revision here. :) DjTaber62 (talk) 14:59, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Stan puts it well. I don't remember if it was me but I may even have added the "may or may not" phrase for clarity but collecting is not a necessary requirement to be a philatelist. ww2censor (talk) 18:58, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Taking from our discussion some thoughts...I tried drafting a new version of the opening paragraph. It's on a subpage from my userpage, where I thought it would be best to experiment with it. You can find it here: New Paragraph
 * Thanks! DjTaber62 (talk) 13:19, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * There is no need to do this on a userpage, you can just discuss it right here where more people will see it and may give input. I re-added some detail to your proposed opening sentence. BTW, you should probably familiarise yourself with WP:LEDE if you are working on opening paragraphs or article ledes. Cheers ww2censor (talk) 18:09, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Philately is stamp collecting. See Merriam webster.  Wikipedia is not a specialist dictionary.  Wikipedia is for generalists.  See GFDL, 3.0 License, Terms of Use and About Wikipedia for details.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.43.233.110 (talk) 13:04, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Doesn't the subject include peridromophilia?Leutha (talk) 21:23, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

 * No. ww2censor (talk) 22:17, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

tweezers
A user recently removed tweezers as philately tools, reasoning that these shouldn't be used. I wonder if this a) is correct and b)if so, shouldn't we mention something about the frequent use of these tools and why they are "dangerous"?--Narayan (talk) 17:44, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I agreed with the change though not for the stated reason - stamp tongs characterizes them as a type of tweezer, so it's a confusing redundancy. I checked three general refs, and none actually said "don't use tweezers"; the closest any got was "don't use your stamp tongs around the house", observing that damaged tweezer tips could in turn damage the stamps. Stan (talk) 18:27, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I think the point being made was that stamp tongs tend to have rounded blunt tips while tweezers often have sharp pointed tips and might cause damage. The trouble is, not everyone uses the term stamp tongs. It is rarely used in the UK for instance. Maidonian (talk) 11:26, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Removing Tag
I believe the article has sufficient citations that any statements lacking sourcing should be individually identified now. Balle010 (talk) 02:47, 6 October 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Philately


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John Mill (theologian)

John Mill (c. 1645 – 23 June 1707) was an English theologian noted for his critical edition of the Greek New Testament which included notes on over thirty-thousand variant readings in the manuscripts of the New Testament.

Biography
Mill was born circa 1645 at Shap in Westmorland, entered Queen's College, Oxford, as a servitor in 1661, and took his master's degree in 1669 in which year he spoke the "Oratio Panegyrica" at the opening of the Sheldonian Theatre. Soon afterwards he became a Fellow of Queen's. In 1676, he became chaplain to the bishop of Oxford, and, in 1681, he obtained the rectory of Bletchington, Oxfordshire, and was made chaplain to Charles II. From 1685 till his death, he was principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford; and in 1704 he was nominated by Queen Anne to a prebendal stall in Canterbury. He died a fortnight after the publication of his Greek Testament.

Textual critic
Mill's Novum testamentum græcum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS. exemplarium, versionum, editionum SS. patrum et scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, et in easdem nolis (Oxford, fol. 1707) was undertaken with the encouragement of John Fell, his predecessor in the field of New Testament criticism; it took thirty years to complete and was a great advance on previous scholarship. The text is that of Robertus Stephanus (1550), but the notes, besides including all previously existing collections of various readings, add a vast number derived from his own examination of many new manuscripts, and Oriental versions (the latter of which he used only in the Latin translations).

Although the amount of information given by Mill is small compared with that in modern editions, it is probable that no one, except perhaps Tischendorf, has added so much material for the work of textual criticism. He was the first to notice the value of the concurrence of the Latin evidence with the Codex Alexandrinus, the only representative of an ancient non-Western Greek text then sufficiently known; this hint was not lost on Bentley.

Mill's work noted over 30,000 discrepancies between some 100 extant New Testament manuscripts. His work was attacked by Daniel Whitby and Anthony Collins. Whitby's Examen claimed that Mill had destroyed the validity of the text. Collins received a reply from Bentley (Phileleutherus lipsiensis) defending Mill, noting essentially that Mill was not responsible for the differences between the various manuscripts, he only pointed them out. Bentley further noted that Christendom had indeed survived despite the errors, essentially asserting that Whitby's attacks were unfounded.

Works

 * John Mill, Novum Testamentum Graecum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS (Oxford 1707). In 1710 Ludolf Küster reprinted Mill's Testament at Amsterdam with the readings of twelve additional manuscripts. This is available from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek here: Novum Testamentum Graecum, cum lectionibus variantibus MSS

title: John Mill (theologian)


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Lower Bavaria

Lower Bavaria (Niederbayern, Bavarian: Niedabayern) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities).

Geography
Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions (Planungsverband) – Landshut and Donau-Wald. Recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge margins to the CSU. This part of Bavaria includes the Bavarian Forest, a well-known tourist destination in Germany, and the Lower Bavarian Upland.

Landkreise (districts)
 * 1) Deggendorf
 * 2) Dingolfing-Landau
 * 3) Freyung-Grafenau
 * 4) Kelheim
 * 5) Landshut
 * 6) Passau
 * 7) Regen
 * 8) Rottal-Inn
 * 9) Straubing-Bogen

Kreisfreie Städte (district-free towns)
 * 1) Landshut
 * 2) Passau
 * 3) Straubing

Economy
The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 48.5 billion € in 2018, accounting for 1.4% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 36,100 € or 120% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 100% of the EU average.

Main sights
Next to the former ducal residences Landshut and Straubing and the baroque episcopal city of Passau, the city of Kelheim with the Befreiungshalle and Weltenburg Abbey belong to the major tourist attractions. To the scenic attractions belong the River Danube including the Donaudurchbruch at Weltenburg and the Bavarian Forest with Mount Großer Arber.

History
The Duchy of Lower Bavaria was created for the first time with the First Bavarian partition in 1255 under duke Henry but there was no exact identity with the current territory. After the reunification in 1340, Bavaria was divided again in 1349, then in 1353 Bavaria-Straubing and Bavaria-Landshut were created in Lower Bavaria. In 1505 Bavaria was permanently reunited. For administrative purposes, Bavaria was split into Rentämter (plural of Rentamt). Lower Bavaria consisted of the Rentamt Landshut and Rentamt Straubing.

Control of Lower Bavaria was one of the issues involved in the War of the Bavarian Succession in 1778-9.

After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1805, the state was totally reorganized and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts(German: Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk)), in Bavaria called Kreise (singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol [to Italy and Austria], addition of the Palatinate), the number of districts was reduced to 8. One of these was the Unterdonaukreis (Lower Danube District). In 1837, King Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes. This also involved border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the Unterdonaukreis changed to Lower Bavaria. The district capital was moved from Passau to Landshut which was added from Isarkreis.

Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate were consolidated in 1932 in one administrative district. In 1954 the two districts were restored again. In 1972 Lower Bavaria was reshaped when the rural districts covered were reshaped too.

title: Lower Bavaria


text:
Talk:Darren Flutie

Untitled
I originally wrote D. Flutie retires for main page recent events but I supppose it's not important enough cause it's just in Canada. - stoltz.

 * Yeah, I don't think that it is really news worthy of the current events page (didn't think I would ever say that ;-) ) --snoyes 19:39 Mar 1, 2003 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as stub, and the rating on other projects was brought up to Stub class. BetacommandBot (talk) 18:37, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

title: Talk:Darren Flutie


text:
Eifel

The Eifel (Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The Eifel is part of the Rhenish Massif; within its northern portions lies the Eifel National Park. The Eifelian stage in geological history is named after the region because rocks of that period reach the surface in the Eifel at the Wetteldorf Richtschnitt outcrop.

The inhabitants of the Eifel are known as Eiflers or Eifelers.

Location
The Eifel lies between the cities of Aachen to the north, Trier to the south and Koblenz to the east. It descends in the northeast along a line from Aachen via Düren to Bonn into the Lower Rhine Bay. In the east and south it is bounded by the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle. To the west it transitions in Belgium and Luxembourg into the geologically related Ardennes and the Luxembourg Ösling. In the north it is limited by the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde. Within Germany it lies within the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia; in the Benelux the area of Eupen, St. Vith and Luxembourg. Its highest point is the volcanic cone of the Hohe Acht (746.9 m). Originally the Carolingian Eifelgau only covered the smaller region roughly around the sources of the rivers Ahr, Kyll, Urft and Erft. Its name was more recently transferred to the entire region.

Topography
The Eifel belongs to that part of the Rhenish Massif whose rolling plateau is categorised as peneplain highland (Rumpfhochland), which was formed by the erosion of the ancient mountains of the Variscan mountain building phase and subsequent further uplifting. Individual mountain chains, up to 700 m, such as the Schneifel and High Fens, run through the western part of the plateau. In the eastern part, in the High Eifel and Volcanic Eifel, individual cinder cones and basalt kuppen, like the Hohe Acht and the Ernstberg, emerged as a result of volcanicity in the Tertiary and Quaternary periods and rise above the undulating countryside.

The rivers draining into the Moselle, Rhine and Meuse, such as the Our, Kyll, Ahr, Brohlbach and Rur, have cut deep into the edge of the Eifel and formed larger valleys.

The Eifel covers an area of 5,300 km2 and is geographically divided into the North and South Eifel. It is further divided into several natural regional landscapes, some with further subdivisions.

National and nature parks
Since 2004, part of the North Eifel has been designated as the Eifel National Park. There are also four nature parks in the Eifel (from north to south): Rhineland, High Fens-Eifel, Volcanic Eifel, and South Eifel, although the first extends only partly into the northern foothills of the Eifel.

Overview
There are several distinct chains within the Eifel.

 * The northernmost parts are called North Eifel ("Nordeifel") including Rur Eifel the origin of the river Rur, High Fens ("Hohes Venn") and the Limestone Eifel (Kalkeifel).
 * The northeastern part is called Ahr Hills (Ahrgebirge) and rise north of the Ahr river in the district of Ahrweiler.
 * South of the Ahr is the High Eifel (Hohe Eifel), with the Hohe Acht (747 m) being the highest mountain of the Eifel.
 * In the west, on the Belgian border, the hills are known as Schneifel (part of the Schnee-Eifel or "Snowy Eifel"), rising up to 698 m. Also in the west, by the Belgian and Luxembourg border, the region is known as Islek (Aquilania).
 * The southern half of the Eifel is lower. It is cut by several rivers running north-south towards the Moselle. The largest of these is the Kyll, and the hills on either side of this river are called the Kyllwald.
 * In the south the Eifel is concluded by the Voreifel above the Moselle.

Since 2004, about 110 km2 of the Eifel within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia have been protected as the Eifel National Park nature reserve.

Natural regional divisions
Up to 1960, the German part of the Eifel, which belonged to the natural region of the Rhenish Massif, was, according to the Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany, divided into three major unit (i.e. two-digit) groups and these were subdivided into (three-digit) major natural units. These divisions were subsequently refined in the individual map sheets Trier/Mettendorf, Cochem (both 1974) and Cologne/Aachen (1978) as follows;  for the most detailed natural region divisions in Rhineland-Palatinate, fact files were produced by the state information system of the conservation administration (LANDIS): The BfN groups the 3 (two-digit) major unit groups under the combined group designated D45.

Mountains and hills

Apart from its valleys, the Eifel is a gently rolling plateau from which elongated mountain ridges and individual mountains rise. The majority of these summits do not attain a great height above the surrounding terrain. Several, however, like the Schwarzer Mann in the Schnee-Eifel, stand out from a long way off as long, forested ridges or clearly isolated mountaintops.

The highest mountain in the whole Eifel is the Hohe Acht at 746.9 m. It is the only Eifel summit above 700 m. However, many peaks, mountain ridges and large regions, such as the Zitterwald reach heights of over 600 m. These include two dozen peaks with good all-round views, of which many have an observation tower. From north to south they are: the Michelsberg, Häuschen and Teufelsley in the north; the Adert, Hohe Acht and Raßberg in the northeast; the Hochkel, Nerotherkopf, Dietzenley and ruins of the Kasselburg in the central area; the Prümer Kalvarienberg, Hartkopf and Prümer Kopf in the east, the Steineberg and Mäuseberg near Daun, the Hochsimmer and Scheidkopf near Mayen; the Eickelslay and Absberg in the southeast; and the Krautscheid and Hohe Kuppe in the southwest.

The mountains and hills of the Eifel include the following (in order of height in metres above sea level):

For a list of these and other Eifel mountains and hills see the List of mountains and hills of the Eifel.

Many of these prominent points are linked by the Eifel-Ardennes Green Route, which crosses the east and south of the region, the German Volcano Route, the German Wildlife Route and the South Eifel Holiday Route.

Water bodies

Due to its moist and mild Atlantic climate, the Eifel is bisected by numerous streams and small rivers. Impoundment of these streams, especially in the North Eifel has led to the creation of very large reservoir, such as the Rursee, which is the second largest in Germany by volume, and the Urftsee.

A feature of the Eifel are its natural lakes of volcanic origin. The largest, the Laacher See, is a collapsed, water-filled caldera, whilst the many maars are water-filled volcanic eruption bowls. The largest maar lake is the Pulvermaar. The Meerfelder Maar has an even bigger basin, but three-quarters of it has silted up.

Rivers and streams
The many rivers and streams of the Eifel drain into the North Sea via the great rivers outside of the Eifel: the Rhine (and its tributary, the Moselle) and the Meuse (with its tributaries, the Rur and Ourthe). The rivers and streams within the mountain range, together with their larger tributaries, are as follows:

Lakes and reservoirs
Reservoirs

 * Bitburg Reservoir
 * Weilerbach Reservoir (Freilinger See)
 * Kronenburg Reservoir (Kronenburger See)
 * Olef Reservoir
 * Gileppe Reservoir
 * Rur Reservoir
 * Urft Reservoir
 * Wehebach Reservoir
 * Weser Reservoir (Weser, near Eupen)
 * Dreilägerbach Reservoir
 * Perlenbach Reservoir
 * Kall Reservoir
 * Lake Bütgenbach
 * Lake Robertville
 * Madbach Reservoir
 * Steinbach Reservoir

Volcanic lakes

 * Laacher See
 * Pulvermaar
 * Schalkenmehrener Maar
 * Gemündener Maar
 * Holzmaar
 * Meerfelder Maar
 * Weinfelder Maar or Totenmaar
 * Ulmener Maar
 * Eichholzmaar
 * Windsborn Crater Lake

Geology
Despite the interesting geology of the Eifel region, only three comprehensive geological accounts have been produced. In 1822, Johann Steiniger published the first geological map of the area and, in 1853, the Geognostische Beschreibung der Eifel. In 1915 Otto Follmann published a new account, adding to the extent of scientific understanding at that time, the Abriss der Geologie der Eifel ("Abstract of the geology of the Eifel region". In 1986, Wilhelm Meyer finally published the volume, Geologie der Eifel ("Geology of the Eifel"), whose fourth, revised, edition is now regarded as the standard work on the geology of the Eifel.

The Eifel and its western continuation into Belgium, the Ardennes, are the remains of a Variscan truncated upland, much of it 400 million years old, that is part of the Rhenish Massif (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge). In the area of the Stavelot-Venn Saddle (Hohes Venn) are the oldest layers of rock, which originate from the Cambrian and are around 550 million years old. The Eifel is one of the few volcanically active areas of Germany, as is evinced by numerous discharges of carbonic acid, for example into the Laacher See. The last eruptions, which gave rise to the most recent maars, occurred about 11,000 years ago.

Basement
The basement in the Eifel, as in the other regions of the Rhenish Massif, consists mainly of Devonian slates, sandstones and limestones, laid down in an ocean south of the Old Red Continent and folded and overthrust in the Variscan orogeny. Only on the northern edge of the Eifel, in the High Fens and its environs, do older rocks from the Cambrian and Ordovician outcrop. Rocks of the Carboniferous do not occur in the Eifel itself, but lie along its northern boundary in the region of Aachen.

The Devonian rocks were deposited in an oceanic basin, in which erosion debris was washed in from the north from the great north continent of Euramerica (Laurussia or the Old Red Continent) which was formed by Caledonian mountain building during the Silurian. From the end of the Lower Carboniferous the sea basin was caught up in the Variscan mountain building process, pushed together and uplifted, and thus formed part of the Variscan mountain system that, in the Upper Carboniferous and early Permian, covered large areas of Europe.

The Eifel geological structures like main folds and overthrusts can be traced in a SW-NE direction far beyond the Rhine valley.

Platform
Since that folding, the Eifel has largely remained part of the mainland. During the Permian, after the end of the uplifting, the Variscan mountains were heavily eroded, leaving only a relatively flat, truncated upland. For a short time, and only partially, this was later flooded by the sea.

Depositions from the Triassic and Jurassic periods have survived in the so-called Eifel North-South Zone. This is a region of subsidence, which runs from the Trier Bay in the south to the Lower Rhine Bay in the north. Through this zone existed at one time a sea link between north and south Central Europe. The remains of the sediments laid down at this time have survived to a greater extent in the Maubach-Mechernich Triassic Triangle in the north and in the Oberbettingen Triassic Graben in the area around Hillesheim and Oberbettingen.

In the Upper Cretaceous and during the Tertiary, the Eifel was inundated mainly from the north. Remains of Cretaceous rocks were discovered on the High Fens. Scattered patches of Oligocene deposits can be found there and in the Western Eifel.

From the Pliocene onwards, the Rhenish Massif, including the Eifel, experienced an uplift. This led to the streams and rivers cutting into the gently rolling landscape resulting in the present appearance of the low mountain range with its flat plateaus and deeply incised valleys.

Due to numerous recent research projects, climate changes since the last ice age can be traced in detail in the Eifel region.

Volcanism

Volcanic activity in the Eifel began 50 millions of years ago and continues into the geological present. It created numerous volcanic structures, lava flows and extensive layers of volcanic ejecta made of tuff and pumice, which have formed the basis of a significant mining activity for the extraction of building materials since Roman times. Some of the hills are volcanic vents. The peculiar circle-shaped lakes (maars) of the volcanic regions formed in volcanic craters.

The first volcanic eruptions took place in the early Tertiary centred in the High Eifel and even before the volcanic activity of the Siebengebirge and Westerwald. Volcanism in the High Eifel came to an end about 15 to 20 million years ago, at the same time as that of the Siebengebirge.

Volcanism in the western and eastern Eifel is, in contrast to that of the High Eifel, much more recent than that of the Siebengebirge and Westerwald. It began in the West Eifel region of Daun, Hillesheim and Gerolstein about 700,000 years ago and created a chain of ash volcanoes, cinder cones, maars and craters running in a chain from northwest to southeast. The youngest maars are only slightly older than 11,000 years.

In the eastern Eifel, volcanism began about 500,000 years ago in the area of today's Laacher See; it extended to the Neuwied Basin to the south, and crossed the Rhine to the east. The quantity of basalt lavas, pumice tuffs and ash tuffs produced by the volcanoes was far greater here than in the western Eifel. East Eifel volcanism came to an end with a huge eruption, as a result of which the magma chamber emptied and collapsed, creating a caldera. Today's Laacher See formed in the caldera. The ashes from the eruption can be detected today in deposits all over Central Europe and as far as Bornholm as a thin layer.

Volcanism is caused by magma, which either rises directly to the Earth's surface from the upper regions of the Earth's mantle or, in the majority of cases, gathers in a magma chamber, several tens of kilometres deep, at the base of the Earth's crust, from which magma rises at irregular intervals and causes volcanic eruptions. Volcanism in the Eifel is thought to be partly caused by the Eifel hotspot, a place where hot material from deep in the mantle rises to the surface, and partly by melt-ascent at deep fractures in the Earth's crust. Research has shown that the volcanism is still active; the Eifel region is rising by 1–2 mm per year and there are escaping gases, for example, carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Laacher See.

Climate
The Eifel is in the Atlantic climate zone with its relatively high precipitation; winters that are moderately cold and long with periods of snow; and summers that are often humid and cool. The prevailing wind is west/southwest. A relatively dry and milder climate prevails in the wind and rain shadow of the High Eifel. Cold air from Siberia in the higher elevations of the Eifel has less of an impact on weather conditions, as the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean to the Eifel brings milder sea air to the Eifel even in winter.

Looking at the long-term averages, even the Snow Eifel only has snow cover for nine consecutive days in winter, as there are no longer lasting cold spells. However, there is an average of 70 days of full snow cover because the frequency of snow at higher elevations is relatively high (for comparison: Bitburg 35 days, Maifeld 30  days), but the level of snowfall varies from year to year. Snow heights vary on average between 15 cm and 60 cm. The humid Atlantic climate can cause extreme variations though: on 2 March 1987 there was 227 centimetres of snow in the Eifel on the Weißer Stein.

The mean temperature in the coldest month (January) is -1.5 °C at high elevations, +1.5 to 2 °C in the mountain foreland. There is an average of 110 days of frost, with temperatures below 0 °C in the highlands and an average of 30 to 40 'ice days' when temperatures do not rise above 0 °C. The warmest month (July) only has an average temperature of 14 °C in the higher areas. The level of precipitation decreases significantly from west to east as a result of the rain shadow of the highlands. So the Schneifel receives an average of 1,200 mm of precipitation (High Fens: 1,400 mm to 1,500 mm), while in Maifeld the average rainfall is only 600 mm.

The bioclimatic conditions in the Eifel are favourable. Heat stress and air humidity are rarely present in summer. The Eifel has a distinctly stimulating climate; the high elevations being considered as highly stimulating. The Eifel is a clean air area with very low air-chemical pollution. On hot sunny days, there is sometimes an increased concentration of ground-level ozone.

Here are a couple of weather station examples for settlements in the Eifel.

Usage in the course of history
At the time of the Roman Empire the whole mountain range between the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Moselle was called Arduenna silva ("high forest"). The oldest record of the name "Eifel" does not occur until the Early Middle Ages. Following the collapse of the West Roman Empire, the Frankish Empire emerged in the territories of present-day France and western Germany. This was divided into gaue (Lat.: pagi). One of them, the Eifelgau, covered the source regions of the rivers Erft, Urft, Kyll and Ahr, i.e. predominantly the northern and northwestern foothills of the present Eifel in the eastern half of the Arduenna silva of the Romans. West of the Eifelgau lay the Ardennengau, whose name was derived from Arduenna silva.

Following the end of the Frankish Empire the name of the old gaue continued to be used in popular language. Over the centuries an ever-larger region was referred to as the Eifel. Today the whole German-speaking part of the range between the Rhine, Meuse and Moselle is called the Eifel (including several areas outside of Germany, see the → Belgian Eifel), while the French-speaking part in Belgium and France is called the Ardennes.

Earliest surviving records
762 Eifflensis pagus, 772 Eiffelnsis pagus, 804 in pago aquilinse, 838 Eifla, 845 Eiflensis pagus, 855 Eiflinsis pagus, 860–886 Agflinse, 975 Aiflensis pagus, 1051 Eiffila, 1105 Eifla, 1121 Eifla

Meaning
Müller/Schnetz (1937) believe that an -n- has dropped out between the diphthong and the syllable, -fel. The resulting root form Anfil or Anfali would then mean an "area that is not so level". An- would then be a prefix and -fali, which is related to the Slavic polje ("field"), means "plain" or "heath".

W. Kaspers (1938) deduces from the surviving form in pago aquilinse the root form aku-ella, akwella and points to its development into the name "Eifel" in the following sequence: aquila > agfla > aifla > eifla > Eifel. Akuella derives from the pre-German and means "land with summits" or "land with peaks".

Both propositions, like several others, are highly contentious. The most convincing proposal is that of Heinrich Dittmaier (1961). Dittmaier initially derives it from the Germanic Ai-fil. The second component corresponds to Ville, which is the name of a ridge between the Erft, Swist and Rhine today. The variants Vele, Vile and Viele may often be found in place names such as Veler Weg or Veler Pfad. Unlike the modern word Ville the fricative consonant is hard in "Eifel". Responsible for that was probably a sound between ai- and -fil, which was assimilated by the f, possibly f, k, ch, d, t. Dittmaier believes the missing sound was a k or ch, whereby "Eifel" originally went back to Aik-fil. Aik/Aich is also a name for oak (Eiche) and qualifies the root word ville. On the basis that it was covered by oak trees, the Eifel (= Eich-Ville) could thus be distinguished from the other Ville, a name still used today, on the Erft. However, the original, historical and even current vegetation of the present day Ville is dominated by oak mixed forest.

The meaning of "Ville" is also disputed. Dittmaier gives three possible explanations: "marshy region", "plain, heath" and "heathland", which would all bring geology and vegetation into harmony.

Another proposal sees the name as even older and possibly of Celtic origin. Near Cologne, an altar was found, which was dedicated to Matronae Aufaniae Celtic goddesses which were honoured by flowing water. The thesis that the name "Eifel" was derived from this source is not conclusive, but it is persuasive; Eifel would then mean "land of water" or "watery mountains".

Settlement history
By the Old Stone Age, the Eifel was inhabited by people: Neanderthals and modern humans. This is evinced by the Buchenloch and Magdalena Caves near Gerolstein. The artifacts from the Magdalena Cave also show that the Eifel was visited by humans even during the height of the last ice age.

Excavations show that iron was already being worked by the Iron Age "Hunsrück-Eifel culture" to which the Eifel gives its name. The first smelting hut north of the Alps was built during the La Tène period in the 5th century BC in Hillesheim. Near Bitburg there is an iron smelting site in which metal was smelted and worked in an almost industrial manner during the Roman period. In Roman times, the Eifel was an important economic region. Its mineral resources (lead, zinc spar, iron, limestone and stones for construction) were mined, and trade benefited from long-distance Roman communication routes such as the Roman road from Trier to Cologne, which crossed the Eifel.

In the late Middle Ages, the Eifel was a border area between the Archbishoprics of Electoral Cologne and Electoral Trier, the County of Luxembourg and the Duchy of Jülich. This explains the large number of castles, now lying in ruins, which had been built mainly for the purpose of guarding the border. Through skillful politics, several smaller principalities and abbey estates were able to acquire their independence, for example the House of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, the County of Salm-Reifferscheid and Prüm Abbey.

The mining and smelting works, with their demand for pit props and charcoal for smelting, the great demand for construction timber and firewood and the shipbuilding industry which was widespread until the 19th century, led to an almost complete deforestation of the woods. In fact, around 1800, the Eifel must be imagined as a landscape of meadows and heathland, where animals, especially flocks of sheep, grazed. At the same time, the population was becoming increasingly impoverished because the poor arable land did not yield rich harvests. Even after the decline of mining and smelting operations after the mid-19th century, the situation of the population did not improve. In addition, the Eifel was a marching route for French troops to all kinds of theatres of war. They demanded "forage money" from the local population, which just caused further impoverishment, as the records of Kottenheim show.

Prussian rule began in 1815, but little changed in terms of social conditions: The Eifel, as a poor peripheral region of the empire ("Prussian Siberia"), was only of interest for military reasons. For Prussian officials and officers, mainly Protestants, a posting to the purely Catholic Eifel region was like a punishment sentence. However, the landscape changed as Prussia carried out systematic reforestation, albeit with coniferous trees that were not typical of the region.

In the 19th century, the Eifel region suffered severe famines, especially in the years 1816/17, 1847 and 1879/80, and an 1853 memorandum records that "Many Eifel inhabitants know no food other than potatoes and bread that consists of a mixture of oatmeal and potato. It can be said without exaggeration that two thirds of the entire population only enjoy meat once a year." The consequences of the terrible food situation were only too obvious: "In 1852, only 10% of all those liable to enlistment were fit for military service.".“

Due to its barren soils and the harsh climate, which led time and again to poor harvests, many farmers were in debt. According to reports of the winter of starvation in 1879/80, however, there was a wave of solidarity in the Reich, and in 1883 the "Eifel Fund" was established, through which, within 18 years, 5.5 millions Reichsmarks were raised for land improvement, for the afforestation of barren land and for land consolidation.''.

For a long time, economic development was hampered by the poor condition of roads and tracks. However, due to its border location between the German Empire, Belgium and Luxembourg (as march routes to France), many railway lines were built since the foundation of the German Empire, which served military-strategic purposes. This improvement of the transport routes also boosted tourism. The construction of the Nürburgring also served the purpose of economic development in the 1920s.

The border region of the Eifel was also not spared by the Second World War. The construction of the Siegfried Line was followed, from September 1944 to January 1945, by violent battles and the Ardennes Offensive, especially in the northern Eifel, which still bears witness to the legacy of the war: ruins of old bunkers and parts of tank barriers. Especially in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, where the battle with the highest losses was fought in the west, military cemeteries - such as in Vossenack - bear witness to the brutal events of the war.

The Eifel region was severely hit in the 2021 European floods.

Economy
Much of the Eifel has limited infrastructure and there are almost no large industrial areas. Only in the Pellenz in the Neuwied Basin is there a stronger industrial presence. Agriculture is restricted to certain valleys and the lower levels (particularly in parts of the southern Eifel, the Pre-Eifel and the Maifeld). A large number of farms have been converted into stabling facilities, some of which offer overnight accommodation and horse care for trail riders.

Wine-growing is a major activity along the Rhine, Moselle and Ahr valleys and in the Wittlich Basin. In the Wittlich Basin, tobacco is also grown. At Holsthum in the Prüm valley, in the lee of the Ferschweiler Plateau, hops are grown for the Bitburger Brewery. However, at high altitudes in the Eifel, only forestry and dairy farming are generally possible.

Mining is still carried out in the Eifel region. In Mayen the firm of Rathscheck Schiefer mines roofing slates in the Moselle slate mines of Katzenberg and Margareta, and gypsum in Ralingen on the River Sauer near the border with Luxembourg. In the South Eifel, especially in the Wehrer Bowl, volcanic carbonic acid is extracted.

In many places in the Eifel region, the mining of pumice, basalt and other rocks and minerals has a long tradition. For example, between Daun, Gerolstein and Hillesheim - i.e. in the heart of the Volcanic Eifel - there are 17 active pits over an area of 11 by12 kilometres. Residents and local authorities affected by the planned expansion (as of July 2012) have practically no influence over it because it is based on the old mining law.

There is evidence that iron was being processed in the Eifel by the Iron Age. The first smelting works north of the Alps was built during the La Tène period in the 5th century BC in Hillesheim. Near Bitburg there is an iron smeltery where, during the Roman period, the metal was being smelted and worked almost in an industrial way. So by then the Eifel was already an important economic area. Its mineral resources (lead, zinc spar, iron, lime and rocks for construction) were mined and trade benefited from Roman roads such as the Roman road from Trier to Cologne, which crossed the Eifel.

The abundance of timber, which was needed for smelting, and of watercourses, which were indispensable for the preparation and operation of hammer mills and bellows, made it possible for the Eifel to be an important supra-regional economic area even in the late Middle Ages. About 10% of the iron produced in Europe originated from the Eifel. It was traded at the markets in Trier and Cologne.

Well known are the many mineral springs, which occur frequently here because of the region's volcanic past. The largest bottlers are Gerolsteiner Brunnen and Apollinaris. One of the largest German breweries, Bitburger, has its headquarters and production facilities in Bitburg in the Eifel.

The economic importance of tourism has increased since the Second World War; and it was further encouraged, for example, by the Eifel's designation as a national park (the Eifel National Park) on 1 January 2004, as well as the natural history infrastructure in the Volcanic Eifel. Furthermore, the Eifel Park and several maars and lakes are popular tourist destinations. In winter, in some of the highlands, there are opportunities for winter sports, e.g. at the Schwarzer Mann near Prüm, the Weißer Stein near Hellenthal or in Rohren near Monschau. A well known destination for motorsport fans is the Nürburgring with its famous Nordschleife. Another touristic and geological destination is the German Volcano Road, which links the attractions of the Vulkanland Eifel Geopark. There are also numerous mountains and hills with good viewing points as well as several holiday routes. Hiking tourism is also of considerable economic importance, as is reflected in the increasing number of overnight stays for hiking guests and the progressive expansion of the network of trails. In addition to the Eifelsteig trail, which was opened in 2009 and runs from Aachen to Trier across the Eifel, there is a wide network of themed and circular walks.

Literature
As a traditionally isolated land, in which the population kept a quiet and simple way of life, the Eifel offered fertile soil for lively folk poetry. The sagas, legends and fairy tales, which were told on long winter evenings in the farmhouse parlours, often reflect a longing for a better world, which stood in contrast to the found reality of life. The Eifel also repeatedly offered material for numerous literary and regional studies works - from the Eifel and about the Eifel.

Folk literature
Eifel mentality and humour were reflected in numerous anecdotes and jokes. Figures of fun and Eifel characters are brought to life in these stories. The Dahnener Sprünge have become famous beyond the region. A love of jokes and ridicule of one's neighbours may have formed motives for these popular stories of Eifel fools. In addition, there are countless horror stories of witches, undead, headless riders, revenants and werewolves, which - like those in the neighbouring Ardennes region - survived into the 20th century.

Folk poetry of the Eifel was collected early on. Inspired by Romanticism, in which folklore was seen as a rich source of unadulterated motifs and forms, collections of stories and adaptations of Eifel folk tales emerged. Among the most illuminating collections is the poetic guide through the Eifel region by chaplain, Johann Heydinger. Prominent authors such as Adelbert von Chamisso, Guido Görres, Karl Simrock, Ernst Moritz Arndt and Friedrich Schlegel rank amongst the early Eifel authors.

During the 1920s scientific interest in folk culture also gave impetus to the collection of folk poetry. The most prominent collector was Bonn professor of folklore, Matthias Zender, who was born in Zendscheid and who, as a student between 1929 and 1936, collected about 10,000 stories, folk tales and jokes from the Eifel/Ardennes region, of which 2,000 were published.

Scary stories from the Eifel region were collected and partly published by headmaster, Heinrich Hoffmann, from Düren in 1900 and also by Zender in the 1930s. Peter Kremer published a collection of such stories with a commentary in 2003 in a Düren publication.

Authors and works
Well-known historical works of the Eifel are the Eiflia illustrata oder geographische und historische Beschreibung der Eifel by Johann Friedrich Schannat, published in the 17th century, translated, supplemented and re-edited in 1824 by Georg Bärsch; and the Eiflia sacra, also edited by Schannat and re-edited in 1888 by Carl Schorn.

The first recognised Eifel poet was Peter Zirbes, a wandering stoneware trader from Niederkail. He was the author of simple poems in the Eifel dialect, which he published in 1852. In 2010, Ute Bales wrote a novel about his life, which was awarded the special prize by the jury in the Rhineland-Palatinate Book of the Year competition (Buch des Jahres Rheinland-Pfalz). Many contemporary poets who live in the Eifel or come from the Eifel have captured the Eifel poetically and made it known beyond its borders to readers of poetry in the German-speaking world. These include Jochen Arlt (who has also contributed to regional literature as the editor of several Eifel anthologies), Theo Breuer, Ursula Krechel and Norbert Scheuer. Jochen Arlt's poem Einkaufn gehen in Münstereifel may be read in the most important German poetry collection, ''The Great Conrady. The book of German poems. From its Beginnings to the Present''.

One great narrator and native of Trier, who chose the Eifel as the setting for her novels and stories, was Clara Viebig. The best-selling author of the subsequent naturalism movement, wrote two great literary monuments about the Eifel with her novels, Kreuz im Venn and Weiberdorf. The reception of Clara Viebig's work was interrupted during the Nazi era because of her marriage to a Jewish publisher. Since the end of the 1980s, the author's works have experience a deserved renaissance - even in the Eifel region. Perhaps the most important literary work about the Eifel region and its people is the novel Winterspelt by Alfred Andersch, which is set in the final phase of the Second World War and depicts the positional war during the Ardennes offensive and the tragic combination of people and their fates in epic breadth. The author, Heinz Küpper, who died in 2005 and whose novels included Wohin mit dem Kopf and Zweikampf mit Rotwild, Norbert Scheuer from Kall and Ute Bales from Gerolstein are today the most important representatives of the Eifel in the field of contemporary, German-language prose. In their works, they present the Eifel, both physically and symbolically, as a rugged landscape, which becomes a reflection of spiritual landscapes. Particularly interesting here (in comparison to the perspective of the more down-to-earth narrator) is the Eifel's literary composition from the point of view of the outsider.

This literature challenges us to confront the region and its people, especially where there is no attempt to romanticize the Eifel, but where hopelessness and despair in the face of poverty and misery, intellectual narrowness or rigid systems of values become apparent. Although Norbert Scheuer was born in the Eifel, the narrators of his novels and stories take the perspective of the distanced or the outsider. Norbert Scheuer has succeeded in presenting life in the Eifel in a multifaceted way and making it interesting for readers in the entire German-speaking area, especially in his latest book Kall, Eifel (2005). In Ute Bales' novels, landscape and people are inseparably connected. The characteristic of the Eifel landscape and its inhabitants is the starting point of a narrative style that shows people as "lonely, lost, in a misunderstood place" in and with their suffering, as in the novel Kamillenblumen (2010) about the peddler, Traud, from Kolverath.

Eifel crime novels
One literary genre that has been flourishing in many regions and cities in Germany over the last few decades is the crime novel with a local or regional setting. Jacques Berndorf has become the best-selling German crime novelist with detective novels such as Eifel-Blues (1989), Eifel-Sturm (1999) or Eifel-Träume (2004). In 1996, he was awarded the top prize at the Eifel Literature Festival. In addition, Ralf Kramp was awarded the sponsorship prize. Kramp was the first author to write Eifel crime stories for children with his series about the "black cloverleaf" (schwarzes Kleeblatt). Harald Schneider (born 1962) is the author of the children's detective series Die Meisterschnüffler, an interactive read that leads readers from 8 years old to different locations in the Eifel. Carola Clasen, Carsten Sebastian Henn, Andreas Izquierdo, Rudolf Jagusch, Martina Kempff, Elke Pistor, Edgar Noske and Hans Jürgen Sittig are other authors who contribute to the genre of Eifel crime novels. Historical crime novels have been penned by Günter Krieger and Petra Schier. Josef Zierden has published an Eifel thriller travel guide that covers countless crime novel scenes in the Eifel. In the town of Hillesheim there is an Eifel crime novel hiking trail that links the scenes of novels by Jacques Berndorf and Ralf Kramp. The crime novel house in Hillesheim houses the largest collection of detective novels in the German-speaking world with a stock of 30,000 books, and there is also a "crime café" in the house.

Fine arts
The Eifel was a destination for German impressionists, among them Eugen Bracht, who painted there with colleagues, and August von Brandis, who often spent several days there with architecture students from Aachen in order to give them an understanding of landscape painting. Two of Bracht's paintings are preserved at the castles of Manderscheid.

Towns and cities

 * Towns in the Eifel: Adenau, Bad Münstereifel, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Bitburg, Daun, Eupen (Belgium), Gerolstein, Heimbach, Hillesheim, Kaisersesch, Kyllburg, Malmedy (Belgium), Manderscheid, Mayen, Mechernich, Mendig, Monschau, Münstermaifeld, Neuerburg, Nideggen, Polch, Prüm, Schleiden, St. Vith (Belgium), Speicher, Stolberg, Ulmen, Wittlich.
 * Towns and cities near the Eifel: Aachen, Bonn, Düren, Düsseldorf, Euskirchen, Koblenz, Cologne, Liège (Belgium), Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Maastricht (Netherlands), Trier.

Well preserved

 * Eltz Castle
 * Lissingen Castle
 * Satzvey Castle
 * Dudeldorf Castle
 * Schloss Eicks

19th- and 20th-century rebuilds

 * Bollendorf Castle
 * Genovevaburg
 * Vlatten Castle
 * Cochem Castle

Ruins

 * Gerolstein Castle
 * Gödersheim Castle
 * Löwenburg and Philippsburg
 * Manderscheid castles
 * Monschau Castle
 * Nideggen Castle
 * Schönecken Castle
 * Ulmen castles
 * Nürburg Castle

Transport

Through the Eifel run the following transport routes:
 * the Ahr Valley Railway from Remagen to Ahrbrück
 * the Eifel Line from Cologne via Euskirchen, Kall and Gerolstein to Trier and several branch lines. Most of the branch lines have however since been closed and some have been lifted.
 * the Erft Valley Railway from Euskirchen to Bad Münstereifel with its connexion to the Voreifel Railway from Euskirchen to Bonn
 * the Trans-Eifel Railway from Andernach via Mayen, Kaisersesch and Daun to Gerolstein. The section of line from Kaisersesch to Gerolstein is only operated in spring and summer. The branching lines from Mayen via Polch to Koblenz, Polch to Münstermaifeld and Daun to Wittlich were closed and partly converted for tourist purposes (cycleways).
 * the Rur Valley Railway from Düren to Heimbach. It is additionally worked on summer weekends by the Euregio Railway on the section from Heerlen (Netherlands) via Aachen and Düren to Heimbach and is especially popular with day tourists, for whom the town of Heimbach and its associated villages are a charming destination.
 * the Brohl Valley Railway from Brohl to Engeln; privately operated narrow gauge railway.
 * the A 1 (also Eifel Motorway), A 48, A 60, A 61, A 64, A 565, A 571 and A 573 motorways.
 * numerous federal roads, e. g. the B 49, B 50, B 51, B 52, B 53, B 56, B 257, B 258, B 265, B 399, B 409, B 410, B 418, B 421 and B 477

Points of interest

 * The Nürburgring, one of the world's most famous motor-racing courses. The northern loop (Nordschleife) of the course is known as the Green Hell (Grüne Hölle), because of its long, difficult and dangerous course through the local forest. The 2020 Formula One World Championship held a race at the Nürburgring under the title of Eifel Grand Prix.
 * The Eifel Aqueduct, an interesting archeological feature. One of the longest aqueducts of the Roman empire, it provided water to the Roman settlement of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (modern-day Cologne).

title: Eifel


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Jamaaladeen Tacuma

Jamaaladeen Tacuma (born Rudy McDaniel; June 11, 1956) is an American jazz funk avant-garde    bassist, composer and producer  born in Hempstead, New York. He was a bandleader on the Gramavision label and worked with Ornette Coleman during the 1970s and 1980s, mostly in Coleman's Prime Time band.

Tacuma showcased a unique style of avant-garde jazz on Coleman's 1982 album Of Human Feelings, and became widely viewed as one of the most distinctive bassists since Jaco Pastorius. He formed his own group, and recorded albums that incorporated commercially accessible melodies while retaining Prime Time's elaborate harmonies.

Biography
Tacuma, raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showed interest in music at a young age, performing with the organist Charles Earland in his teens. Through Earland, Tacuma came to know the record producer Reggie Lucas, who introduced Jamaaladeen to Ornette Coleman in 1975 at age 19. As the electric bassist for Coleman's funky harmolodic Prime Time group, Tacuma rose to prominence quickly; guitarist Bern Nix was another band member. While with Prime Time, Tacuma relied mostly on traditional technique, picking with his fingers. His later work revealed a master improviser and showcased a more rhythmic, thumb-slapping funk approach.

The first three Prime Time recordings (Dancing in Your Head, Body Meta, and Of Human Feelings, all recorded in the late 1970s) feature Tacuma's work on a Rickenbacker bass, a model popular among progressive rock musicians, but rarely used on jazz recordings. He switched to a Steinberger bass in the 1980s, an instrument that helped him create his readily identifiable sound.

Tacuma's work with Prime Time landed him his most high-profile gig to date: an appearance with the band on Saturday Night Live on April 14, 1979, which Tacuma later cited in Musician magazine as his "best live performance ever". Besides the work with such musicians as James "Blood" Ulmer, Walt Dickerson, Chuck Hammer, and David Murray, he collaborated with the upcoming artists of the New York Downtown scene like Kip Hanrahan, David Moss, Bill Laswell and Anton Fier (The Golden Palominos, 1983) that further heightened his reputation. Tacuma's first solo album, Show Stopper, came in 1983 on the Gramavision label; the album grew out of the jazz-funk style he developed in his work with Coleman. His other works as leader at Gramavision followed that formula.

In the 1980s, he started to perform in a relatively straightforward funk/R&B setting with his group Cosmetic. He was frequently featured in music magazines thanks to his aggressive, driving playing style and his angular fashion sense. In 1981, Tacuma received the highest number of votes ever for an electric bassist in the "talent deserving wider recognition" category of the DownBeat magazine critics poll. Since the early 1990s, he has remained active but has maintained a lower profile. He has made numerous solo and collaborative recordings, including several CDs of duets with saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig. AllMusic cited Mirakle, a recording that features Tacuma, drummer Grant Calvin Weston, and guitarist Derek Bailey as one of the "most important recordings of year 2000." In 2006, he returned to the jazz spotlight with an appearance on the World Saxophone Quartet's Political Blues.

In 2007, he joined with Weston and guitarist Vernon Reid (known for his work in Living Colour and with Ronald Shannon Jackson) to form the power trio Free Form Funky Freqs. He has also recorded two albums with Basso Nouveau, a group that features multiple bassists playing together on a variety of instruments, including electric bass, upright bass and acoustic bass guitar, and that also includes bassist Gerald Veasley.

He has received the following awards and fellowships : "Parallel Culture" Award 2009, Marcus Garvey Foundation 50th Anniversary Award 2011, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts 2011 and The Uptown Theater Hall of Fame Award in 2014, Gerald Veasely's Bass Boot Camp "Living The Dream Award - 2016, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Best Bassist 2017.  He has received The MacDowell Colony 2011, Headlands Center for the Arts 2012 and Civitella Ranieri 2014 residency fellowship. In 2017 he received The Philadelphia Club Club of Jazz Best Bassist Award, in 2018 he received the City of Philadelphia's Benny Golson Award, The Benny Golson Award includes a City proclamation and the Liberty Bell award - one of the highest honors from the City of Philadelphia . Since 2015, Tacuma presents the annual Outsiders Improvised & Creative Music Festival in Philadelphia and continues to tour, produce and record worldwide.

As leader

 * Show Stopper (Gramavision, 1983)
 * Renaissance Man (Gramavision, 1984)
 * Music World (Gramavision, 1986)
 * Jukebox (Gramavision, 1988)
 * Boss of the Bass (Gramavision, 1991)
 * Sound Symphony (1992)
 * with Basso Nouveau: The Night of Chamber Music (Moers Music, 1993)
 * Dreamscape (DIW, 1996)
 * Groove 2000 (P-Vine, 1998)
 * Brotherzone (P-Vine, 1999)
 * Flavors of Thelonious Monk Reloaded (Extraplatte/Jam All Productions 2008)
 * Rendezvous Suite (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011)
 * For the Love of Ornette (Jam All Productions /P-Vine, 2010)
 * Legends of The Pipe & Sweater (Jam All Productions, 2015)
 * Electric Electrico (Jam All Productions 2016)
 * Gnawa Soul Experience (Jam All Productions, 2017)

with Cosmetic

 * Cosmetics / New Complexion (12", Rough Trade, 1981)
 * Get Ready (/ Put It On) (12", Gramavision, 1982)
 * (In the) Nightlife (/ (In the) Nightlife (Instrumental)) (12", Gramavision, 1983)
 * So Tranquilizin' (Gramavision, 1985)
 * So Tranquilizin' (Dance Mix) (/ N-Er-Gize-Me) (12", Gramavision, 1985)

As co-leader

 * and Dennis Alston: Sound Symphony (Moers Music, 1992)
 * and Cornell Rochester: Meet the Podium 3: Live in Köln (Timeless, 1994)
 * Doran – Studer – Tacuma (with Christy Doran and Freddy Studer): Race the Time (Migros, 1997)
 * with Burhan Öçal featuring Natacha Atlas: Groove alla turca (Doublemoon, 1999)
 * with Derek Bailey and Calvin Weston: Mirakle (Tzadik, 2000)
 * with Uwe Kropinski: Zwei (Jazzwerkstatt, 2009)
 * The Meeting Trio- Bobby Zankel and Webb Thomas (Jam All Productions, 2016)

with Free Form Funky Frēqs (trio with Vernon Reid and Calvin Weston)

 * Urban Mythology Volume One (Thirsty Ear, 2007)
 * Bon Vivant (Jam All Productions, 2013)
 * Hymn of the 3rd Galaxy (Ropeadope, 2022)

with Ornette Coleman

 * Body Meta (Artists House, 1976)
 * ''Dancing in Your Head (A&M/Horizon Records, 1977)
 * Of Human Feelings (Antilles, 1982)
 * Opening the Caravan of Dreams (Caravan of Dreams, 1985)
 * In All Languages (Caravan of Dreams, 1987)

with Wolfgang Puschnig

 * Pieces of the Dream (Amadeo, 1988)
 * Gemini-Gemini – The Flavors of Thelonious Monk (ITM, 1991)
 * Alpine Aspects (Amadeo, 1991)
 * Mixed Metaphors w/ Ernst Jandl (Amadeo, 1995)
 * Journey Into the Gemini Territory (ITM Pacific, 1996)
 * Roots & Fruits (Amadeo, 1998)

with Sean Noonan

 * Boxing Dreams (Songlines, 2008)
 * There's Always the Night (noonansmusic, 2014)
 * Tan Man's Hat (Rarenoise, 2019)

with Red Sun and Samul Nori

 * Red Sun/Samul Nori (Amadeo, 1989)
 * Then Comes the White Tiger (ECM, 1994)
 * Nanjang – A New Horizon (Amadeo, 1995)

with Linda Sharrock

 * Linda Sharrock & The Three Man Band (Moers Music, 1991)

with others
with James Carter
 * Layin' the Cut (Atlantic, 2000)

with Walt Dickerson
 * Walt Dickerson 1976 (Whynot, 1976)
 * Serendipity (SteepleChase, 1977)

with James Blood Ulmer
 * Tales of Captain Black (Artists House, 1978)
 * Music Revelation Ensemble (DIW, 1988)

with Kip Hanrahan
 * Coup de tête (American Clavé, 1981)
 * Desire Develops an Edge (American Clavé, 1983)
 * Conjure: Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed (American Clavé, 1985)

with Nona Hendryx
 * Nona (RCA, 1982)

with The Golden Palominos
 * The Golden Palominos (Celluloid, 1983)

with David Moss
 * Full House (Moers Music, 1984)

with Jayne Cortez and the Firespitters
 * There It Is (Bola Press, 1982)

with Cashmere
 * Let the Music Turn You On (Philly World, 1983)

with Veronica Underwood
 * Veronica Underwood (Philly World, 1985)

with Khan Jamal
 * Thinking of You (Storyville, 1987)

with Grant Calvin Weston
 * Dance Romance (In+Out, 1988)

with Fool Proof
 * No Friction (Gramavision, 1988)

with James Watkins
 * Intense (ITM, 1989)

with Courtney Pine
 * The Vision's Tale (Antilles, 1989)

with Pink Inc.
 * Alex Deutsch 's Pink Inc. (DIW, 1991)
 * Keys 2 the Kastle (Sweeca, 1995)

with Bazillus
 * The Regulator featuring Eddie Harris (Act/Zero, 1992)

with Fredy Studer and Christy Doran
 * Half a Lifetime (Unit, 1994)

with Sylk 130
 * When the Funk Hits the Fan (Ovum, 1997)

with Ben Schachter
 * Fractals (Ben-Jam, 1999)

with Peter Murphy with Marc Ribot
 * Dust (Metropolis, 2002)
 * The Young Philadelphians: Live in Tokyo (Yellowbird, 2015)

title: Jamaaladeen Tacuma


text:
Jukebox (Jamaaladeen Tacuma album)

Jukebox is an album by Jamaaladeen Tacuma. It was recorded from September to October 1987 and was released in 1988 by Gramavision. It was produced by Jonathan F.P. Rose and Jamaaladeen Tacuma.

Track listing

 * 1) "A Time A Place" – 4:20
 * 2) "Meta-Morphosis" – 6:28
 * 3) "Rhythm Of Your Mind" – 1:40
 * 4) "Jam-All" – 3:24
 * 5) "In The Mood For Mood" – 6:18
 * 6) "Jukebox" – 5:37
 * 7) "Naima" – 5:18
 * 8) "Zam Zam Was Such A Wonderful Feeling" – 4:55
 * 9) "Solar System Blues" – 5:04

Personnel

 * Jamaaladeen Tacuma – Synthesizer, bass, drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, producer, engineer, fretless bass, mixing
 * Ronnie Drayton – Guitar, electric guitar
 * Frederick Phineas – Harmonica
 * Alfie Pollit – Synthesizer
 * Dennis Alston – Percussion, drums
 * Byard Lancaster – Flute, saxophone, tenor saxophone, pan flute, bird calls
 * Alan Sukennik – Organ, synthesizer, piano, cello, keyboards, Korg synthesizer

Credits

 * Tim Casey – Mixing, mixing assistant
 * Phoebe Ferguson – Photography
 * Joe Ferla – Engineer, mixing
 * Angela Gomez – Assistant engineer
 * Fred Guyot – Paintings, cover painting
 * Bob Ludwig – Mastering
 * Jonathan F.P. Rose – Producer, mixing

title: Jukebox (Jamaaladeen Tacuma album)